How Many Etsy Visits Does It Take To Make A Sale? | A Simple Guide

  • By: Reece Williams
  • Date: October 3, 2022
  • Time to read: 4 min.

When you first start out selling on Etsy its hard to gauge how your store is performing. It is also hard to know when to expect sales, as you have no historic data to look back on.

When I first started I was also extremely confused, and it took several months to understand what I should be expecting from my store – and lets just say my original expectations were completely wrong!

For example, if you’ve had 50 listing views, but just 2 sales, should you be worried? In this guide I will look to explain how many views on average it takes to get a sale, what a conversion rate is, and how you can improve yours.

What is a “Conversion Rate”?

A conversion rate is the percentage of customers that view your items that eventually go on to buy. This is how we express and track the number of listing views needed to make a sale.

The calculation looks like the following:

Conversion Rate = (Total number of sales / Total number of unique visitors) * 100

https://blog.useproof.com/calculate-conversion-rate

Your conversion rate is one of the most important metrics to track as it covers the overall performance of your store.

It can cut through “vanity metrics” (metrics that make you feel good, but don’t go towards making money), such as total visitors, and turn it into actionable information.

How to calculate your conversion rate

So, for example if I had 50 views and 2 sales my calculation would look like:

(2 / 50) * 100 = 4%

How many Etsy visits does it take to make a sale?

On average it takes between 30-50 views to make a sale on Etsy.

However this is based on an average store with a good number of reviews, that has been making sales over an extended period of time.

If you are just starting out, and have less than 5 reviews I would expect this number to be much higher – I’ll go over the factors that affect conversion rate a bit later on.

Scheduling review reminder emails is hard. It takes plenty of organisation and time to do.

The impact on your store if you don’t follow up for reviews gets worse over time, so you don’t want to forget!

If you want to hand over this organisational nightmare, then try EtsyHunt’s “Follow-Up Reminder” service.

It will tell you exactly what to send and when – it even provides templates so you don’t have to worry!

What is the average conversion rate on Etsy

The average conversion rate for an Etsy store is between 3-5%. If you’re doing this then you are doing a great job. Most stores will be in this range, so if you are doing better than 5% you’re beating the majority!

Factors affecting conversions on Etsy

So the average conversion rate is between 3-5%, but what factors decide your conversion rate? And what changes can you make to improve it? Lets take a look at the most common.

Reviews

The number 1 factor to get into the average conversion range of 3-5% is reviews. If you have a new store, then your number 1 priority is to get 6 5-star reviews. This is easier said than done, as you need sales to get reviews.

One way around this is to give friends and family a discount code to get your item free, in return for an honest review. Etsy is pretty strict on reviews, so be sure that they mention in the review they were gifted the item, and that they also include a photo to validate the review is legitimate.

If you already have reviews, then your job is to get the average above 4.5 so your store is displayed at “5 stars”.

If your average is under this then you need to find the root cause of the issues so you can correct them going forward. Look through each review, and reach out to the customer to find out what was wrong.

If you can fix this then your average will shoot up in no time.

Listing cost

The listing cost is the next factor in your conversion rate. As a rule of thumb, the higher the cost of your item, the more views are needed.

How many times have you seen something for under $5 and just bought it without a second thought? Compare that to buying something that costs over $100? I’m pretty sure it’ll take a few more views to convince yourself its the right thing.

Even though high ticket items have a lower conversion rate, the profit margin is often much higher than a cheaper listing.

Descriptions, images and policies

In order for a customer to feel comfortable with making a purchase they need to be confident they know what they are getting, and this it meets what they need.

This is where images, descriptions and policies are important.

Do your images show your item from all angles? Do they demonstrate the size, shape and color? Does your description cover all the common questions about the item? Do your policies explain how long shipping will take, and how much it will cost?

If any of the above are not met, it will scare potential customers away.

Be sure to think like a customer when putting your listing details together to make sure you answer any question they may have.

Urgency factors

Finally, you need to consider urgency factors on the listing. Things like low stock messaging, and sale prices add urgency to the decision for the customer.

Urgency has been shown to increase conversions as customers feel they need to get the item now before it’s out of stock, or before the sale ends.

This is why you often see stores that are always in a sale, and always have “low stock”. Organising your listing and stock with this in mind, and you should see your conversion rate improve.

Conclusion

The average conversion rate on an Etsy store is around 3-5%, however there are many factors that affect it.

If you are a new store owner be sure to read through the factors listing here, and plan your listings accordingly to maximise the sales on your store.