E-commerce Update: Traffic to Bookstore Websites Dips

Here, the IndieCommerce team shares an important look at current trends in the world of e-commerce.

Below is a seven-day comparison of the e-commerce conversion rate for all IndieCommerce (IC) and IndieLite (IL) stores. The conversion rate is the percentage of visitors to websites that complete a purchase online.

When comparing the two periods, last week (blue line) had an average conversion rate of 7.42 percent vs. the previous week (orange line) of 7.83 percent. This represents a 5.21 percent decrease in the conversion rate.

During the same seven-day comparison period, we also saw a 6.2 percent decrease in the number of users to IC and IL websites (see chart below). Of particular note was the 14.11 percent decrease in user traffic from May 10 to May 12. While Sunday, May 10, was Mother’s Day and a traffic drop was expected, it continued on Monday and Tuesday (see graph below).

The lower traffic and lower conversion rates from May 10-12 resulted in a 19.78 percent decrease in revenue across the IC and IL network when compared to Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in the previous week. The drop on Mother’s Day was expected, but the slower revenue recovery on May 11-12 was not. We’ll watch to see if this turns into a trend and report on it next week.