Making a Great First Impression: Rate-Based Metrics for Online Shopping Sites
First impressions matter for every eCommerce store. Think of the first few steps a visitor takes on your site as the first few minutes of a first date. You want to be charming, interesting, and engaging enough that they want to stick around. This is where certain key numbers, or "metrics," come into play. Let's talk about these metrics and how they help us make sure our site is the best it can be when saying "hello".
Rate Metrics: The Heartbeat of the Shopping Journey
These rate metrics tell us if our website is a place where people like to browse and shop. They show us if we’re getting a thumbs up from our visitors. Here are a few we should really care about:
Engaged User Rate: The Star of the Show
Why it's a VIP:
The Engaged User Rate is like the applause at the end of a show. It tells us what percentage of visitors are really getting into our website — looking at more than one page or even adding things to their shopping cart. We're aiming for more than 55% here, which is a pretty high bar! But if we can hit that, it means over half the people who visit are finding something they like enough to consider buying.
Product View Rate and Category View Rate
Why they matter:
These rates tell us how many people are taking a closer look at what we're selling. The Product View Rate zeroes in on the folks who check out the details of our items. The Category View Rate is about the people exploring the different types of stuff we have. High numbers here mean we’re catching their interest.
New User Rate and Returning User Rate
What they show us:
These numbers split our visitors into two groups: the newcomers and the ones coming back for more. The New User Rate shows us the fresh faces, while the Returning User Rate gives us a peek at our old friends who keep returning. Both are super important for a thriving website.
Why These Numbers Are a Big Deal
When we break down these rates by different things like what device someone is using, where they're from, or how they found us, we can learn a lot. For example, if we know that people using a certain type of phone or coming from a specific country have a higher Engaged User Rate, we can make their experience even better.
By focusing on these "rate" numbers, we make sure that when someone visits our website for the first time, they find things that catch their eye and have fun browsing. That way, they're more likely to come back, and next time, maybe they'll hit that "buy" button!
