An examination of retail website design and conversion rate

Abstract

Retailers and manufacturers widely use Internet retailing as part of a multichannel promotion and distribution strategy. The rate at which site visitors convert to customers is low for online retail, resulting in high customer acquisition costs. Almost 96% of website visits end with no consumer purchase. This study examines empirical associations between website features and online conversion rates through regression analysis. Results indicate that certain website design features do explain a sizeable portion of the variance converting e-commerce visitors to purchasers. Features that promote flow, a psychological state of immersion into an activity, positively associate with conversion.