BouncePilot Resources

135+ Abandoned Cart, Retargeting, Email & eCommerce Marketing Stats

We’re passionate about eCommerce conversion data. So passionate that we spent weeks collecting the most extensive set of stats possible on abandoned carts and eCommerce conversions.

We want to create a single point of reference to help you benchmark and plan your marketing efforts. Please share additional stats or studies that you find with us, right here: BouncePilot CEO. (Yep, our love of data goes right to the top). If this is interesting for you, feel free to share this page with others.

The real gold in these benchmarks is giving you the data needed to make decisions that drive the highest ROI.

Keep reading for the most complete and relevant list of eCommerce stats and benchmarks, starting with our personal favorite, Email Marketing stats..

eCommerce Stats for Email Marketing

51% of recipients open emails for for Loyalty program rewards. MediaPost

48% of recipients open emails for free samples/gifts. MediaPost  

46% of recipients open emails for free delivery.  MediaPost  

33% of recipients open emails for competitions. MediaPost  

31% of recipients open emails for advance notice of new products. MediaPost  

22% of recipients open emails for product reviews. MediaPost  

63% of recipients open emails for discounts.

14% of recipients open emails for VIP access.  MediaPost  

60% of email marketing recipients don’t think any brands or stores are doing it well.  MediaPost  

While your open and click rates are highest with 1 email per month, it is best overall to send emails once every week.  Omnisend  

Customers open emails more actively on Wednesdays, but will click more on Sundays.  Omnisend  

Every email on average brings $0.71 in the U.S.  Omnisend  

Automated emails have better click rates – promotional campaigns have a 4.15% click rate, while cart recovery emails have a 7.1% click rate.  Omnisend  

While 26% of SMBs polled use email marketing for sales, just 7% use email as a brand-building tool.  DMA    Wordstream  

Only about 30% of US retail email list subscribers have actually made a purchase from the retailer whose email list they subscribed to  eMarketer  

Welcome emails are incredibly effective: on average, 320% more revenue is attributed to them on a per email basis than other promotional emails.  Easy SMTP  

80% of retail professionals indicate that email marketing is their greatest driver of customer retention (the next closest channel? Social media, identified by just 44% of those same professionals).  eMarketer  

People SAY they prefer HTML emails, but plain-text emails actually get up to 37% higher open rates.  Hubspot  

73% of millennials identify email as their preferred means of business communication. Procurious  

Segmented email campaigns have an open rate that is 14.32% higher than non-segmented campaigns.  Mailchimp  

Click-throughs are 100.95% higher in segmented email campaigns than non-segmented campaigns.  Mailchimp  

The use of emoji in email marketing messages increased 775% from 2015 to 2016.  MediaPost  

The percentage of emails containing GIFs rose from 5.4% in 2015 to 10.3% in 2016.  MediaCharts  

A study of 1 billion emails revealed that video emails see CTRs 96% higher than non-video emails.  GetResponse  

Transactional emails have 8x more opens and clicks than any other type of email and can generate 6x more revenue. Experian  

Companies who send automated emails are 133% more likely to send relevant messages that correspond with a customer’s purchase cycle. Lenskold and Pedowitz Groups  

Personalized email messages improve click-through rates by an average of 14% and conversions by 10%. Aberdeen  

Only 39% of online retailers send personalized product recommendations via email. Certona  

Personalized emails deliver 6x higher transaction rates. Experian  

Email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter. McKinsey  

Email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter.

81% of online shoppers who receive emails based on previous shopping habits were at least somewhat likely to make a purchase as a result of targeted email. eMarketer  

When it comes to purchases made as a result of receiving a marketing message, email has the highest conversion rate (66%), when compared to social, direct mail and more. DMA  

72% people prefer to receive promotional content through email, compared to 17% who prefer social media. MarketingSherpa  

Including a call to action button instead of a text link can increase conversion rates by as much as 28%. Campaign Monitor  

A message is 5x more likely to be seen in email than via Facebook. Radicati  

4.24% of visitors from email marketing buy something as compared to 2.49% of visitors from search engines and 0.59% from social media. Monetate  

The average order value of an email is at least three times higher than that of social media. McKinsey  

Email marketing has an ROI of 3800%. DMA  

Email’s ROI was 28.5% compared to 7% for direct mail. Chief Marketer  

For every $1 spent, email marketing generates $38 in ROI. Campaign Monitor  

44% of email recipients made at least one purchase based on a promotional email Convince & Convert  

A series of cart recovery emails can generate up to 131% more orders than a single cart recovery email.  Convince & Convert  

Digital shopping cart abandonment rates are high worldwide, at 74.3%. according to Q1 2016 research, with Asia-Pacific having the highest rate at 75.9% and Europe having the lowest cart abandonment rate at 71.5%. eMarketer  

Abandoned Cart Stats

Retailers lost $4.6 trillion worth of abandoned carts in 2016, $2.75 trillion deemed recoverable.  Business Insider  

28% of shoppers will abandon their shopping cart if presented with unexpected shipping costs.  Kissmetrics  

23% of users will abandon their shopping cart if they have to create a new user account.  Kissmetrics  

60% of shoppers abandon cart because of high extra costs (shipping, taxes, etc.) Baymard  

37% of shoppers abandon cart because the site wanted them to create an account.  Baymard  

28% of US online shoppers have abandoned an order in the past quarter solely due to a “too long / complicated checkout process.”  Baymard  

6 out of 10 “add-to-cart” actions on eCommerce sites do not result in sales!

17% of shoppers abandon cart because they were just doing research to buy later.  Visual Website Optimizer  

25% of shoppers abandon cart solely because of high shipping costs.  Visual Website Optimizer  

22% of shoppers that abandon their cart would buy from another site if offered a better deal.  Visual Website Optimizer  

41% of shoppers that abandon cart will buy from another store.  Visual Website Optimizer  

Almost half (45%) of the users who add a product to their cart without willing to buy it, do that to know its final price.  Visual Website Optimizer  

35% of shoppers use the add-to-cart function as a wishlist.  Visual Website Optimizer  

58% respondents said that emails and ads, which offer a discount on an abandoned product, brings them back to the website.  Visual Website Optimizer  

54% of shoppers will purchase products left in shopping carts, if those products are offered at a lower price.  

9% respondents said that they return to buy a product if it’s going out of stock.  Visual Website Optimizer  

25% respondents said that they’ve abandoned a purchase at least once because of the bank rejecting the transactions.  Visual Website Optimizer  

99% users who don’t actively look for products to buy admit that time-bound offers encourage them to make a purchase.  Visual Website Optimizer  

Nothing frustrates shoppers more than filling a piece of information twice — 32% respondents admitted to this.  Visual Website Optimizer  

14% said “not being able to change/modify order” is what they hate the most in a checkout process.  Visual Website Optimizer  

60% of shoppers have at least once abandoned a purchase because the website asked them for information they didn’t want to share.  Visual Website Optimizer  

67.45% of online shopping carts are abandoned before the customer completes a sale  Shopify  

Average cart abandonment rate is 74%.  Get Elastic  

Most cart abandonment occurs between 1 and 2pm on Thursdays.  Get Elastic  

Abandoned Cart Recovery Stats

Over 1/3 of clicked cart recovery emails convert to a sale.  Get Elastic  

The AOV or recovered carts by email is 19% higher than typical purchases.  Get Elastic  

More than a tenth (11.61%) of cart abandonment emails are clicked.  Econsultancy  

The average order value (AOV) of purchases from basket abandonment emails is 14.2% higher than typical purchases.  Econsultancy  

Over 75% of email revenue is generated by triggered campaigns, rather than one-size-fits-all campaigns. Automated email campaigns account for 21% of email marketing revenue.

DMA  

Nearly half (44.1%) of all cart abandonment emails are opened.  Econsultancy  

Nearly a third (29.9%) of clicks lead to a purchase back on site.  Econsultancy  

Sending a series of three abandoned cart email reminders brings in 69% more orders than a single email.  Omnisend  

Cart recovery emails have a 7.1% click rate.  Omnisend  

eCommerce Checkout Stats

Ideal checkout flow can be as short as 12-14 form elements (7-8 if only counting the form fields). Baymard  

The average large-sized e-commerce site can gain a 35.26% increase in conversion rate though better checkout design.  Baymard  

The average conversion rate in ecommerce is 1.33%.  Compass  

From Fireclick index findings, specialty stores convert at the highest average rates (7.6%), followed by catalog websites (6.7%), fashion and apparel (5.9%), outdoors and sports (4.8%), and software (4.1%).  Invesp  

The average conversion rate of visitors who saw UGC is 161% higher than those who didn’t. Shoplo  

57 percent of direct shopping cart traffic is driven by email.  

SeeWhy  

19% of shoppers will purchase from an unfamiliar site if it features security seals on checkout (Norton, McAfee, etc)  Visual Website Optimizer  

57 percent of direct shopping cart traffic is driven by email. SeeWhy.  

66 percent of cart conversion comes through email  Internet Retailer  

The average delay between a buyer’s first visit and purchase is 19 hours, but that’s a misleading number because of the long tail of that time distribution; in fact, 72 percent of visitors will buy in the first 24 hours after they first visit  SeeWhy

eCommerce Stats for Retargeting

55% of shoppers say that online reviews influence their buying decision. Kissmetrics

The average clickthrough rate for display ads is .07%… the average clickthrough rate for retargeting ads is 10X higher at about .7%.  Business2Community  

70% of visitors who are retargeted with display ads are more likely to convert. Business2Community  

Retargeting can lead to 147% conversion rate over time.  Business2Community  

Retargeting ads can result in up to 1046% increase in branded search. Business2Community  

With retargeting, 26% of shoppers will return and complete the checkout process.  Business2Community  

General Stats Related to Ecommerce and Advertising Spend

In 2018, the average firm was expected to allocate 41% of their marketing budget to online, and this rate is expected to grow to 45% by 2020.  WebStrategies  

Search engine marketing will capture the largest share of online spend with online display (banner ads, online video, etc.) taking the second largest share.  WebStrategies  

Social media advertising investments will continue to grow, with a 17% compound annual growth rate from 2016 to 2021, and is expected to represent 25% of total online spending in 2018.  WebStrategies  

Digital marketing is pacing at an 11% compound annual growth rate between 2016 and 2021 with the biggest growth occurring in online video.  WebStrategies  

Investment in paid search, display advertising, social media advertising, online video advertising and email marketing is predicted to account for 46% of all advertising by 2021.  WebStrategies  

In a 2017 report from Hanapin Marketing, 75% of respondents expect to increase their Google Adwords investments in the next 12 months (more than any other digital channel). Facebook, which has become a respectable competitor to paid search, expects to see increased investments by 71% of respondents.  Hanapin Marketing  

2017, TV ad spending will total $72.01 billion, or 35.8% of total media ad spending in the US. Meanwhile, total digital ad spending in 2017 will equal $77.37 billion, or 38.4% of total ad spending.  

Instagram and Twitter, by comparison, expect to see increased investments from less than half of respondents (46% and 21% respectfully). Snapchat, which has a greener ad platform, was at the bottom of the list, with only 15% of respondents expecting to increase investments into 2018.  Hanapin Marketing  

The number of email users worldwide is forecasted to rise to 2.9 billion by 2019.  Statista  

Nearly 105 billion emails are sent each day; this number is expected to reach 246 billion before 2020.  Radicati  

92% of online adults use email, with 61% using it on an average day. Pew Research

57% of email subscribers spend 10-60 minutes browsing marketing emails during the week. ChoozOn  

Global eCommerce sales to reach more than 2.3 trillion in 2017.  Statista  

SMS and Mobile Marketing Stats

98% of all SMS messages are opened.  Search Engine Watch  

90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes.  Search Engine Watch  

SMS has a CTR of 35%.  Search Engine Watch  

By 2019, mobile advertising is expected to represent 72% of all U.S. digital ad spending.  MarketingLand  

70% of people report disliking mobile ads. HubSpot  

Mobile ad blocking has increased 90% year-over-year.  Impact  

48% of consumers start mobile research with a search engine –but 33% go directly to the site they want. Smart Insights  

33% of consumers start mobile research with a branded website, only 26% with a mobile app.  Smart Insights  

80% of social media time is spent on a mobile device. comScore  

Pinterest is the most mobile social network and 64% of its referred traffic comes from either smartphones or tablet devices. Mobile Marketing Watch  

58% of companies surveyed have a dedicated mobile marketing team.  

Google says 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing and 40% visit a competitor’s site instead. MicKinsey & Company  

Mobile email opens have grown by 180% in the last three years Email Monday  

Average smartphone conversion rates are up 64% compared to the average desktop conversion rates. CMS Report  

88% of consumers who search for a type of local business on a mobile device call or go to that business within 24 hours. Nectafy  

Mobile offers are redeemed 10x more frequently than print offers. eMarketer  

48% of companies are using mobile coupons/offers in 2017. That’s up 16% since 2013. Statista   

Mobile marketing has grown to a point that it’s no longer tracked in the forecast and it’s presumed to be considered across all channels.  Web Strategies  

Stats Related to Influencer Marketing

Advertisers that implemented Influencer Marketing in 2016 received $11.69 in Earned Media Value (EMV) on average for every $1.00 they spent.  Smart Insights

An average influencer marketing campaign is composed of 7 videos, with a potential reach of 1.8M and costs around $7,250.  Grapevine  

On average influencer marketing campaigns have strong performance metrics including a 2% click through rate and 2.55% conversion rate.  Grapevine  

Influencer marketing metrics beat key metrics from Facebook Advertising as well as Google Adwords and Google Display Network.  Grapevine  

Beauty & Fashion brands see the highest average conversion rate.  Grapevine  

On average, Cooking & Food videos have the highest click through rates and lowest cost per click.  Grapevine  

Fitness & Exercise brands pay the lowest per video and drive quality traffic, leading to the lowest average cost per acquisition.  Grapevine  

Overall, Instagram was the best performing channel for social action– it delivered a social action rate (social media engagements/social media exposure) of 3.21%.  Rythm One  

Conclusion

When you’re managing an ecommerce and retail sales channel, improving your conversion rates is your top priority. Use these benchmarks to test different aspects of your abandoned cart recovery and checkout process, or to try new marketing programs.

My favorite example is abandoned cart emails. We saw that they were the highest performing campaigns in eCommerce, and created an opportunity to drive those same messages to unregistered and unknown visitors (you can learn more by clicking here).