Ecommerce Conversion Baselines
Compare global, UK, and Shopify conversion rates by category and device, and examine Korean public statistics and their limitations.
Written and reviewed by Eric Han · Co-founder & CTO, reopt
Key takeaways
- Overall conversion is 1.3% globally, a 1.4% median on Shopify, and 1.97% in the UK/Ireland. Different denominators and samples prevent combining them.
- Shopify stores' 10th–90th percentiles span 0.3–3.7%. Differences between stores far exceed differences between reported averages.
- Device gaps point in different directions across datasets. Do not assume a fixed mobile disadvantage.
- Conversion is also declining over time. Contentsquare reports retail conversion down 5.5% year over year in 2025.
- For Korean stores, the vendor-reported 2.06% mean from 2021's top 100 stores was the only figure whose sample we could confirm. Do not use the unverified 1.33% figure.
Overall Conversion
| Scope | Value | Denominator | Sample / period | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify stores | Median 1.4%, mean 1.9% | Purchasing sessions / all sessions | 436 stores, July–October 2026 | Littledata, C |
| UK / Ireland | 1.97%, versus 1.68% a year earlier | Transactions / sessions | September 2026; sample undisclosed | IRP Commerce, C |
| Global | 1.3% | Purchases per visit | Q2 2026; underlying data undisclosed | Statista, C |
Littledata's quantiles provide a starting point for simulation.
- Top 10% threshold3.7%
- Top 20% threshold2.7%
- Median1.4%
- Bottom 20% threshold0.5%
- Bottom 10% threshold0.3%
Stores with fewer than 1,000 sessions or 90 purchases were excluded. New stores may perform below this distribution, but we found no public evidence quantifying that difference.
Categories
Shopify and UK/Ireland
| Category | Shopify median (top 20% threshold) | UK/Ireland, September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Beauty / skincare | 2.5% (3.8%) | — |
| Health / supplements | 2.4% (3.8%) | 2.83% |
| Food / beverage | 2.3% (3.3%) | 1.28% |
| Fashion / apparel | 1.0% (1.9%) | 1.62% |
| Home / furniture | 1.0% (1.8%) | — |
UK/Ireland-only figures include crafts 5.76%, kitchen/appliances 2.59%, pets 2.13%, sports 1.90%, automotive 1.76%, toys 1.07%, and baby products 0.44%. IRP is a single-month snapshot, with category-level year-over-year changes from −43% to +54%. Categories such as food and beverage rank differently across datasets. Do not depend on one month's value.
Contentsquare's retail dataset covers more than 2,200 sites and reports grocery desktop conversion of 11.4%, luxury desktop 1.4% and mobile 0.9%, and health/beauty mobile 3.4% (definition undisclosed, 2025, grade C).
Devices
| Source | Mobile | Desktop | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Littledata medians | 1.5% | 1.4% | Mobile slightly higher |
| Contentsquare retail | — | 3.7% | Desktop 40–70% higher |
Mobile accounts for 77% of retail sessions and a 67% median on Shopify. Smartphones generated 56.4% of US holiday-season transactions (Adobe 2025 holiday season, B).
Because directions differ, measure your own device-specific rates before applying any adjustment. Do not derive a device correction from these benchmarks.
New and Returning Visitors
Contentsquare retail reports returning-visitor conversion of 2.5% versus 2.15% for new visitors; returning visitors account for 51% of traffic. Acquiring more new visitors through ads can therefore lower the site's overall conversion rate.
Aggregate and individual trends can move in opposite directions. In Moe and Fader's 2004 study of a 1998 Amazon panel, overall conversion rose from 13.2% in months 1–4 to 14.7% in months 5–8, while conversion among continuously active customers fell from 26.0% in months 3–4 to 20.8% in months 5–6 (grade B). The levels are historical, but the structural lesson remains: a rising average need not mean improvement.
Trends
- Cross-industry conversion fell 5.1% year over year while AOV rose 6%, across more than 6,500 sites (Contentsquare 2026, C).
- Retail conversion fell 5.5% and traffic 2.6% (Contentsquare, C).
Plans based on older benchmarks can be overly optimistic.
AI Traffic
Cafe24 D2C stores' AI-traffic conversion was 0.85%: ChatGPT 0.96%, Gemini 0.57%, and Perplexity 0.5%. No non-AI comparison average was disclosed (Byline Network, Q2 2026, C via press coverage). AI-referred US retail traffic rose 693.4% during the 2025 holiday season, from a small base.
Korea
Reliable official statistics cover transaction value, not conversion.
| Metric | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Online-shopping transaction value | KRW 24.2118 trillion, +7.3% | August 2026 online-shopping trends, B |
| Mobile share of transaction value | 78.1% | Same source, B |
| Category mix | Food services 16.4%, food/beverage 14.6%, travel/transport 13.5% | Same source, B |
| Categories with high mobile shares | Food services 99.1%, e-coupons 92.3%, children's/baby products 84.4% | Press report, B (via press coverage) |
The mobile figure of 78.1% is a transaction-value share, not a conversion rate. Food services pull it upward.
Two Korean figures are frequently quoted.
| Value | Context | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 2.06% | Top 100 stores by event count, about 237.17 million sessions, 2021. A CRM vendor's sample may favor mature stores | BIGIN report, C |
| 1.33% | Sample and formula unverified. Do not use | D |
We found no official Cafe24, Naver, or Coupang conversion rates, nor Korean device-specific rates. Use internal store data, or start with BIGIN as a wide prior. Industry figures and cases appear in the Korean Conversion Atlas and Korean Cases.
Simulation Inputs
| Stage | Input | Evidence and conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Overall session conversion | Mean 1.8%, | Fitted to Littledata quantiles, C; distribution median about 1.4% |
| Fashion session conversion | Mean 1.25%, | Fitted to median 1.0% and top-20% threshold 1.9%, C |
| Other categories | Use the median and top-20% threshold to fit a distribution; see quantile calculations | Table values |
| Korean stores | Mean 2.06%, mean × around 1 | BIGIN 2021, C |
Do not use Korea's 1.33%, single-month IRP category figures, or Statista's 1.3% with undisclosed underlying data as inputs.
Partnerships, Collaborations, and Sponsorships
Distinguish attribution and incrementality in affiliates, B2B partner win rates, podcast and newsletter sponsorships, and brand collaborations, with attention to denominators.
Ecommerce Funnels and Carts
Break down add-to-cart and checkout completion by category and device, interpret the 70% abandonment headline, and estimate the recoverable share.