Geography can play a big role in influencing e-commerce performance measurements such as conversion rate and average order value (AOV), according to a report by Monetate, which analyzed a random sample of more than 100 million online shopping experiences for the third quarter of 2012.
In the US, for example, none of the top five states that drive the most traffic to leading e-commerce websites (California, New York, Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania) have the highest conversion rates.
California accounts for the plurality of e-commerce traffic in the US (13.47%), followed by New York (8.14%), Texas (6.63%), Florida (5.58%), and Pennsylvania (5.35%).
At the bottom of the list in traffic volume are Vermont (0.24%), Alaska (0.21%), North Dakota (0.19%), South Dakota (0.18%), and Wyoming (0.15%).
However, California, which drives the most amount of traffic, converts at only 2.89%.
Traffic from Wyoming converts the highest, at 5.02%, followed by traffic from North Dakota (4.61%), Montana (4.49), West Virginia (4.39%), and South Dakota (4.20%):
Below, additional findings from Monetate's "Ecommerce Quarterly EQ3 2012" report.
Growth in Shopping via Smartphone, Tablet
As of 3Q12, total shopping sessions via tablets increased 161% year over year, while traffic via smartphones increased at an equally impressive 119%.
Overall, nearly one in five consumers made online purchases via smartphone (10.03%) or tablet (8.37%) in the third quarter. By contrast, only 8% of traffic to leading e-commerce websites was generated via tablets and smartphones in the same period a year earlier.
Surprisingly, there was no correlation between the states with the overall highest market share of e-commerce website traffic and the growing number of visitors using tablets and smartphones.
Tablet Traffic, by State
California, which drives the most e-commerce website traffic, ranks close to the bottom of tablet traffic market share, at 7.84%, and tablet users from Iowa generate the least amount of website traffic (7.18%).
Shoppers in Hawaii generate the most traffic via tablets to leading e-commerce websites (11.56%), with four other states having 10% or more tablet traffic market share: Texas (10.24%), Nevada (10.13%), New Jersey (10.04%), and Alaska (10.04%).
Smartphone Traffic, by State
Maryland leads the way in driving the most ecommerce website traffic via smartphones (12.40%), and five other states have more than 10% of smartphone traffic market share: Georgia (11.51%), Mississippi (11.21%), South Carolina (10.97%), Illinois (10.48%), and Ohio (10.31%).
International Shoppers
The study also analyzed e-commerce traffic from countries outside the US.
Based on AOV, international customers spend 38.43% more than shoppers from the US ($125.33 vs. $90.54); however, international buyers tend to have higher abandonment rates and lower conversion rates:
- Cart abandonment rate: 86.15% of international shoppers leave websites without finishing the checkout process, compared with 64.18 of US shoppers.
- Conversion rates: 0.96% of international shoppers convert, compared with 3.33% of US shoppers.
About the data: For the report, Monetate analyzed a random sample of over 100 million online shopping experiences using "same store" data across in the third quarter of 2012.
