E-commerce Update: Traffic to Bookstore Websites Levels Off

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 7.39 percent vs. the previous week (orange line) of 7.42 percent. This represents a 0.51 percent decrease in the conversion rate. This drop is much less than we reported in last week’s update and may indicate that we are leveling off.

During the same seven-day comparison period, we also saw a 5.38 percent decrease in the number of users to IC and IL websites (see chart below). Of particular note is that the number of users leveled off over the past three days (May 17–19) to a point where those three days actually had 0.69 percent more visitors than they did the previous week. So the 6.2 percent traffic drop we reported in last week’s update has leveled off.

The slight drop in the conversion rate and the traffic flattening out over the past three days seem to indicate that consumers are still turning to the websites of independent booksellers in large numbers. We’ll continue to monitor these trends as states open up access to physical retail stores.