E-Commerce Update: Online Sales Rise as Delta Variant Makes Headlines

When the increase in the infection rate from the COVID Delta variant made headlines around the world last week, IndieCommerce and IndieLite websites experienced a 13.29 percent increase in online sales for that seven-day period (blue line). This was driven by a 5.85 percent increase in the e-commerce conversion rate (the percentage of customers visiting a website that complete an online purchase) and a 6.77 percent increase in web traffic as some customers moved their purchases back online to avoid infection.

Normally at this time of the year, the online sales and traffic patterns remain very consistent. The rapid change in consumer behavior last week is a reminder that stores need to keep their websites updated and ready to address rapidly changing customer shopping patterns.