conversion rate

[bikersbits]

What would you consider a good conversion %?
A rate of 2%? 5%?
And how do you classify the customers that start buying from the site and then build a good customer relationship and call you instead?
Still on-line sales? they would buy from the site, but fancy a little chat.
I’m confused!
Roberta

[billhilton]

It depends on the quality of your traffic. If you're sure that the people you are getting are actually all interested in buying bike gear or at least researching products, then five percent is realistic, and a reasonble to good conversion rate.

I think your rate is possibly lower because your home page isn't really working that hard to sell. Sure, there are links, but there are acres of dead space on the right - one of the first places on a page a visitor looks, by the way - that you could use for listing special offers and things like that. Look at the Amazon.co.uk home page. They don't just give you a list of categories and some "featured products" (which are below the scroll line on your site) - they actively promote certain items. Why not move some of those featured products over to the r.h. margin, and write a couple of sentences of copy for each outlining why they are great buys? I think that would bump up sales a bit.

One the repeat business thing - once they're regulars, they're regulars - how they buy from you is irrelevant, I'd say.

[Top Hat]

Depends on the quality of traffic.
e.g Traffic from froogle we get a 10% conversion, yet from pop unders we get 0% (we don't allow these but occasionally an affilate has a go, before they are banned)

1% to 4% is about where most people are.