Is My Funnel Broken?!

"I have 7 add to carts this week but no purchases. What's wrong with my funnel?!"

This question is usually in tandem with a page visit number that is epically low...

I can't begin to count how many times I've read, heard, or directly been asked this question before by brand new e-commerce store owners.  

This single statement lets me know this store owner is very new to the game and where they sit on the 'knowing their industry or platform' scale.  

Anyone who knows e-com, knows this concern is pretty ridiculous and, depending on the situation, kind of hilarious.  

We all start somewhere, so I definitely understand the worry that creeps into ye'ol' mind once you put your product out there, and especially once you start putting your money into ads (am I just throwing money into the void cyber-space??).

The hilarity comes from being there before, knowing where someone's mind is in this situation, and the relief that comes from realizing that there's no need for any concern at this point.

Typical e-com product conversion rates are around 1%-3%, especially on platforms like Shopify.

Yeahhh... you should already know where this is going...

Without getting into THE MATHS, you can quickly see how statistical significance comes into play here.

Simply put: You can't make effective decisions or determinations on such a small sample of data.

It's not recommended to immediately start tweaking your funnel, your ads or anything of the sort right now. You could mess something good up before you even give it the chance to succeed.

Remedy: Even without knowing the exact math (and assuming this product is one of a ticket class that is suited for purchase without a sales call) the best remedy to determine an answer to the question posed above is: Traffic.

Get more traffic to your page/offer/product.

If you're already running ads, then give it more time. That's it.

Well, that's almost it...

The other, and equally important aspect of this remedy, is to just chill, relax. The world hasn't ended just yet. It'gone'be'alright'na.

Understanding conversion and drop-off rates will help you get your KPIs (key performance indicators) and, most importantly, your expectations, set properly.

With that understanding and more data, we now have the ability to see what's actually happening throughout any given funnel and diagnosis it appropriately.

Although this is an e-com example, the same logic can be applied to sales funnels in other industries. The overall logic remains the same.

‍