What Is The Average Bounce Rate Of An E-Commerce Website, And How Do You Improve It?

The average bounce rate of an e-commerce website is 55%. That means that for every ten people who visit your site, six will leave without buying anything. But what if you could improve the average bounce rate to a more sustainable level? This article will teach you how.

So, what do people think of when they hear the term bounce rate? They often think of a website with low-quality content. They imagine visitors leaving immediately after landing on one terrible page. 

While this may be true in some cases, it's not true in all scenarios. Sure, a lot of low-quality content goes hand-in-hand with high bounce rates. But many factors can contribute to varying e-commerce bounce rates. Understanding these is important for improving your site and marketing efforts.

Let's look at where bounce rates tend to be higher and think of ways to reduce it. As a digital creator, you have the power to make your ecommerce site more profitable. 

1. Bounce Rate by Device

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a high bounce rate is mobile devices. Please think of the time it takes to load pages on those tiny screens. People will leave your website if the product images are too small and difficult to navigate on a phone or tablet. Luckily, you can help avoid slow load times with proper website design.

But we aren’t saying that you should design your site only for mobile. Instead, focus on making sure that your page has a high loading speed that is fast and responsive on all devices. 

2. Bounce Rate by Product Category

The product category can also have a significant impact on bounce rate. Some types tend to lead to higher rates than others. Fashion and apparel products tend to have lower average bounce rates. These are 20% compared to the 70% bounce rate of other product types. Digital content or subscriptions offer less tangible value and usually have higher bounce rates.

All in all, it's up to you to choose which products you promote. For example, people looking for apparel are likely more engaged. They also want more information to inspire a sale. But, suppose your content creator drafts irrelevant information about your product. Now it does not resonate with your visitors' needs. As a result, your potential customers will bounce off from your product page and never return.

You should provide detailed and authoritative information about the products you are selling. There needs to be more than one page of info. Additional service and product information can lead to an increase in sales. It also draws out the time customers spend on your page.

3. Bounce Rate by Site Engagement

The level of engagement people have with your website can impact the bounce rate. As a general rule, sites with lower bounce rates have higher levels of engagement. We can define engagement in several ways. One example is by looking at the average time spent on a page. Another is how often people click through to other pages within your site (i.e., time spent per session).

It would help your website succeed if you consistently monitor bounce rates and your visitors’ engagement with the site. Low bounce rates and high consumer interaction indicate your content creators are producing engaging content that encourages your website visitors to take action in patronizing your business. 

If someone is spending a long time on the content of one page, it means they're interested in what you have to offer, and there's an opportunity for their engagement to convert into a sale. Engaging content that builds trust for your customers about the products you are selling increases page views per session and reduces the website's bounce rate.

4. Bounce Rate by Landing Page

Finally, the landing page people visit can also impact the bounce rate. For example, if someone lands on a product detail page but doesn't add it to their cart, they will likely leave quickly, which means high bounce rates. In this case, you could use an upsell strategy to encourage them to make a purchase or look at ways to improve your site so that people stay on the page longer.

Conclusion

Understanding where high bounce rates occur and how you can fix them will help you improve conversions and better utilize resources for marketing efforts. We hope that the above focus areas will help you improve your website bounce rate exponentially.