Each month, Nielsen Online puts out a list of the world’s “top converting” websites. They base the results on the number of people who buy something from a particular website, versus the total number of visitors to the site.
One website consistently comes out on top – ProFlowers.com, an American site selling flowers. ProFlowers.com consistently has a conversion rate of between 30% and 40%, and occasionally goes above 40%. This means for every 100 people who visit ProFlowers.com, 30 to 40 of them buy something.
When you consider the average e-commerce website struggles to achieve a 1% conversion rate, you’ll appreciate ProFlowers.com is achieving something quite remarkable. It is a simple site, with no cool effects. It just gets straight down to business. There’s a special offer featured prominently on the home page, plus a menu across the top with various occasions and types of flowers.
If you’re planning an e-commerce site, it would make sense to model the layout on ProFlowers.com.
For more ideas on what makes a successful website, here is Nielsen’s list of the Top 10 converting websites for December 2008*.
1. ProFlowers 31.1%
2. LL Bean 25.7%
3. Amazon 23.7%
4. VitaCost 23.0%
5. Coldwater Creek 22.4%
6. QVC 21.1%
7. Roamans 20.4%
8. Office Depot 20.2%
9. LandsEnd 19.3%
10. Victoria’s Secret 19.2%
*Source: Nielsen Online / Marketing
Here’s the No. 2 converting site, LL Bean, to give you more ideas of what works in the real world (as opposed to what web designers “think” might work).
It’s well worth studying these top-converting sites and using their proven models as the basis for your own.
Why try and reinvent the wheel?
I think brand awareness with consumers plays a big role in some of these top converters. Proflowers have great prices and usually offers additional incentives which is also a factor. I’m not at all convinced its their web design.