Average ecommerce conversion rate by industry and device

Summarize this article with

The median Shopify store converts 1.4% of its sessions into a purchase. Littledata measured this across 436 Shopify stores in the 90 days to October 24, 2026. The rate runs from 1.0% for fashion and apparel to 2.5% for beauty and skincare. Other sources give higher numbers, because they measure different things.

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What is the average e-commerce conversion rate?

For Shopify stores, the median is 1.4% of sessions. Littledata's benchmark defines conversion rate as the share of sessions that included at least one purchase. It uses the median, so half the stores sit above 1.4% and half below.

Littledata counts only stores that meet three rules. The store must use Littledata with a connected Google Analytics 4 property. It needs at least 1,000 sessions and 90 purchases in the period. Stores with implausible data are left out. That means very small stores are not in the sample.

Treat 1.4% as a Shopify median, not a global average. No primary source gives a single figure for all online stores.

What is the conversion rate by industry?

It varies by a factor of two or more. Littledata reports these medians for industries with at least 30 stores in the sample.

Industry	Stores in sample	Median conversion rate
Beauty and skincare	39	2.5%
Health and supplements	35	2.4%
Food and beverage	32	2.3%
Fashion and apparel	76	1.0%
Home and furniture	63	1.0%

Source: Littledata, Shopify stores, 90 days from July 27 to October 24, 2026. Figures checked on October 31, 2026.

The samples are small, from 32 to 76 stores per industry. Treat the gap between 2.3%, 2.4%, and 2.5% as a tie, not a ranking. The gap between those three and the 1.0% group is large enough to matter.

Littledata publishes only these five industries. If yours is not listed, no figure here applies to it.

What is the conversion rate on mobile and desktop?

The sources disagree, and the gap depends on who measured it. Littledata's Shopify median is 1.5% on mobile and 1.4% on desktop. Contentsquare's 2026 benchmark reports a wider gap.

Source	Mobile	Desktop	Sample and period
Littledata	1.5% (median, 430 stores)	1.4% (median, 426 stores)	Shopify stores, 90 days to October 24, 2026
Contentsquare	2%	3.4%	Average across more than 6,500 websites, Q4 2025

The 0.1 point gap in Littledata's data is small. Mobile and desktop look close to equal for these stores. Do not average these two rows. The first is a median of Shopify stores that count a purchase session. The second is an average from a large set of websites. The samples differ, so the numbers do not compare.

Is the average conversion rate going up or down?

Contentsquare reports that conversion rates fell in each of its last two benchmark reports. Its 2026 report says they dropped 5.1%, comparing Q4 2024 with Q4 2025. The 2025 report said 6.1%, comparing Q4 2023 with Q4 2024.

The 2026 report draws on 99 billion sessions across more than 6,500 websites in nine industries.

Contentsquare gives these as percent changes, not the underlying rates. They tell you the direction of a large sample, not the rate you should expect.

How do you measure your own conversion rate?

Divide the sessions that ended in a purchase by all sessions, then multiply by 100. Use the same period for both numbers.

For example, 20,000 sessions and 280 purchases give 280 divided by 20,000, which is 1.4%. This is a worked example, not a measurement. Our free conversion rate calculator does the division for you and shows what your store would earn at a higher rate.

Use your own analytics, and split it by device and by traffic source. Compare each segment with its own past results first. A benchmark is a rough guide, and your own trend tells you more. Our guide to the other e-commerce KPIs to track shows which numbers to read next to it.

What can you do if your rate is below the median?

First check whether you are comparing like with like. Use your industry, your device split, and the same definition of a session and a purchase.

If the gap is real, change one thing at a time and measure for several weeks. Two things you can test are social proof and a clear deadline. See user-generated content examples for the first. None of the sources above shows that either one raises your rate. Test them on your own store. Before you call a winner, check the result with an A/B test significance calculator. If buyers leave at checkout, see how to reduce cart abandonment.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good e-commerce conversion rate?

There is no single good rate, because it depends on your industry, price, and traffic. For Shopify stores, Littledata reports a median of 1.4% of sessions with a purchase, measured over 90 days to October 24, 2026. Beauty and skincare stores had a median of 2.5%, and fashion and apparel stores 1.0%. Compare your rate with stores like yours.

How do you calculate e-commerce conversion rate?

Divide the number of sessions that ended in a purchase by the total number of sessions, then multiply by 100. Littledata defines it as the share of sessions that included at least one purchase. If 20,000 sessions led to 280 purchases, the rate is 1.4%. Use the same period for both numbers.

Is the conversion rate higher on mobile or desktop?

The sources disagree. Littledata's Shopify median is 1.5% on mobile and 1.4% on desktop. Contentsquare's 2026 benchmark puts desktop at 3.4% and mobile at 2%, averaged across more than 6,500 websites. The samples differ. Look at your own analytics by device, and compare each device with its own past results.

Why do conversion rate benchmarks differ so much?

They measure different things. Littledata uses the median of 436 Shopify stores and counts sessions with a purchase. Contentsquare's figures come from thousands of websites across industries, and cover many kinds of websites, not only stores. A median and an average also give different numbers. Compare only like with like.