14 Sure-Shot Ways to Boost Your eCommerce ROI

eCommerce founders are always looking for ways to grow ROI. With many strategies out there, deciding which strategy works best is difficult. 

Cutting the noise, here are time-tested strategies to help you grow your eCommerce ROI on a limited budget.

What Is a Good eCommerce ROI?

If you want an honest answer, there’s no such thing as a good eCommerce ROI. Sure, Google might say it's either 10-20%, but with an economic slowdown looming large, you can never be so sure. 

Your industry could be more prone to slowdowns while others may not feel the heat as much. When you look past this, other factors come into play. 

Your customers can no longer afford to buy or have found better alternatives that match their idea of ‘value’.

If your business is using standard shipping instead of flat rate shipping, your ROI will be different. If you compare yourself to competitors who have a steady retention rate, it's only fair to say you have the wrong expectation. 

Finally, if your marketing channels have an ROI of 2:1 ratio instead of the standard 5:1, don’t beat yourself up. It could be the start of your journey to getting to your good eCommerce ROI. 

Remember, it's always the smaller wins that always lead to big victories.

How To Calculate eCommerce ROI?

To calculate eCommerce ROI, you’ll need to calculate your Net Profit. 

Net Profit = Total Revenue — Total Costs

Once, you have your Net Profit, use the formula, Net Profit / Total Costs*100

Let’s say you are selling a jumpsuit worth $200 via Google Shopping Ads and Emails. You spend $50 on ads and $75 on emails getting 7 conversions and 18 conversions respectively. 

Since the ROI for ads stands at 2800% and email scores 4700%, without a doubt, email has a higher ROI.

While a useful metric, eCommerce ROI analysis doesn’t factor in LTV—a crucial factor for recurring sales.

Jump to:

4 Immediate Marketing Strategies to Boost eCommerce ROI

14 Ways to Increase Your eCommerce ROI

1. Improve average time spent via CRO

2. Analyze your conversion funnel to improve ROI

3. Get your buyer personas right

4. Personalize your marketing efforts 

5. Create a content hub 

6. Drive product discovery through website usability

7. Streamline your SEO process

8. Create paid ads that deliver  

9. Create landing pages to nurture high intent

10. Hustle & get emails to drive actual sales

11. Improve repeat purchases

12. Stick to multichannel selling 

13. Get started with affiliate marketing 

14. Revisit your pricing strategies

1. Improve average time spent via CRO

You’re losing out on improving your eCommerce ROI, if your customers are not spending as much time as they should on your site pages.

Your low-performing pages may need the CRO treatment. Here are ways you can fix them: 

• Make product discovery easy on the homepage—feature category thumbnail above the fold and bring visuals in search 

Warby Parker makes finding products easier with visual results.

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• Adopt country-specific messaging—use geolocation and customize the pages for the country or region

• Better your product pages—offer a 30-day free trial, home try-on, different shipping options, expert consultation, customization, trust signals BNPL options, and UGC 

• Inspire confidence with FAQs and return policy—use tabbed navigation to save space  

• Reserve your cart pages—add a 60-minute cart reminder, offer free shipping or gift on checkout within 10 minutes 

• Make shopping easier for returning visitors—feature a popup containing the products they browsed last

Everlast uses it to re-engage customers back into the funnel. 

• Reduce checkout effort—add a progress bar for reference, offer up to 3 express checkout options, and limit the number of form fields 

• Minimize typing effort—use Luhn’s validator for credit card details and numeric keypads for address fields

• Reinforce checkout security—Add an interactive icon on badge hover to inspire confidence in customers 

2. Analyze your conversion funnel to improve ROI

When you're strategizing to improve ROI, a critical factor to consider is how “expensive” certain drop-off points are. 

For example, if 70% of your drop-offs happen at checkout, and your optimization efforts are currently taking care of something else, reorient and reorganize. 

At Convertcart, we start by splitting any funnel in the following format:

• Home page → Product Page 

• Product Page → Add To Cart

• Add To Cart → Checkout

• Checkout → Purchase

Identify which of these paths have a less than 50% conversion rate. 

But if you have to dig deeper, ask some really critical questions. 

Let’s say only 20% of your users are going from the product page to the cart page. Try decoding:

• What’s the difference in behavior between segments? Check desktop vs mobile, new vs returning, source/medium

• What’s the bounce rate on the product page? Where are you directing users to click?

• Are users dropping on your cart page? Are you trying to squeeze in too many recommendations there?

• What are the concerns? Is it a lack of a save for a later option or a payment method?

• Do they have queries? Is the chat not available on the cart page? 

Further Reading: 5 Stages of an eCommerce Conversion Funnel (+Examples)

3. Get your buyer personas right

No matter what kind of budget you have marketing ROI, it’ll never yield what you need if you don’t get the right buyer to engage. 

So, getting your buyer personas right is a non-negotiable—here’s a checklist that can help:

👉 Delve deeper into real-time behavior: no matter how many segments you have to study, the following questions can help. 

• What paths do they take before buying (pages visited, scroll depth, time spent)?
• What products do they compare or revisit often?
• Which traffic source leads to the most engaged behavior?

👉 Get a firm understanding of their buying motivation: if you can figure out what they’re consistently engaging with and which behaviors they’re adopting, it’ll help in the big picture.

• Are they buying for convenience, self-expression, health, status, eco-values?
• What language or visual cues do they resonate with in ads/emails?
• What pain points in product reviews or survey responses are they highlighting?

👉 Evaluate on the basis of channel & platform: this will let you see what’s working and which behaviors lead to maximum conversions across each platform or channel.

• What kind of buyers does each platform attract for you?
• Do email-converted users tend to buy bundles vs. Instagram users who buy one-offs?
• Are repeat buyers coming through retargeting or loyalty emails?

Further Reading: eCommerce Behavioral Segmentation Examples For 2025

4. Personalize your marketing efforts 

77% of marketing ROI is due to segmented, targeted, and triggered campaigns. 

Yet, only a sizable number of eCommerce brands grow their ROI via personalization.

Check out these tips to personalize your campaigns better: 

• Send emails with 101 guides to people who have stayed beyond the average time on the page—shows a bit of purchase intent  

• Create personalized quizzes—Ask what, why, when, and how questions; do it well and you’ll have their emails in minutes

• Offer 1:1 consultations—helps in conveying customers that you are committed to helping them find the best product(Attention is a hell of a drug)  

Here’s a brilliant example of a 1:1 consultation by Bloomingdale’s. Notice how the microcopy explains the benefit in one-liners. 

5. Create a content hub 

The ROI for content marketing across all industries is 748% when done consistently. 

The best way to do this is a Content Hub. 

A content hub is a one-stop guide for all your branded content. It contains a main page linking to blogs on different topics containing subtopics. And this isn’t limited to blogs but applies to ebooks, infographics, and videos as well.  

To get one right with the goal of boosting eCommerce return on investment:

👉 Link content clusters to the most popular customer objections: for example, if “how to fix sensitive skin” is a leading customer concern, you can identify 3 to 4 of your bestsellers and lead your primary content with arguments supporting their regular use

👉 Make it easy to directly convert from featured content: yes, feature those “quick add” CTAs within your blog content, show links to product review pages and offer social proof nudges like “12, 000 have used this product since 2010”

👉 Retarget based on content they show interest in: pixel all content pages and create retargeting audiences based on topic interest, making sure the rules are super clear - for example, if they viewed 2+ posts on “dry skin”, show bestselling moisturizers in carousel ads

Beardbrand has a one-stop shop guide—that features different topics ranging from beard, mustache, and lifestyle, to product guides. This is a brilliant content library example, which focuses on engaging shoppers at various stages of their journey with the brand:

The subcategories are well segmented making information easy to find on all things beard.

Further Reading: Gated content: 10 Dos & Don'ts that eCommerce Founders Must Know

6. Drive product discovery through website usability

The hallmark of excellent eCommerce ROI is product discovery. 

The more ease, satisfaction and choice shoppers experience around this, the longer they’re likely to engage with the brand to buy. 

At Convertcart, we’ve noticed this takes the shape of seamless product comparisons and relevant product recommendations. 

To get comparisons above par:

👉 Feature a “compare” CTA on category pages: upon clicking, let shoppers see an overlay where they can add 3 to 4 similar products of their choice, which also throws up a quick differentiated description for each product (take AI’s help!)

👉 Show editable comparison charts on product pages: this one’s similar to the previous tool, but can be more elaborate, featuring more fields of info plus a quick add CTA for each

👉 “Compare” products at the end of quiz results: this can be a real CRO gamechanger especially if you’re able to cite the UVP of each product (instead of featuring only “the best product”)

To show relevant recommendations at the right junctures, consider:

👉 Mid-scroll recommendations on product pages: especially when they come with “complete the experience / set with…” recommendations alongside a discount, rewarding the shopper in research mode while promising “value”

👉 Discounted order confirmation page recommendations: pick up to 3 only and show an “email me the discount code” CTA to deepen engagement 

👉 “Take X% off” quiz recommendations: appeal to the ToFu buyers who might be checking out aimlessly but the promise of a focused, discounted experience wheels them back in towards higher buying intent

Further Reading: 33 Scientific Ways To Improve eCommerce Product Discovery

7. Streamline your SEO process

While SEO might be mainstream, 57% of North American brands don’t have an SEO strategy.

It’s scary considering so much of ROI in eCommerce actually depends on the right people finding your brand and choosing to buy. 

However, it’s never too late to start and here are a few tactics to get to speed quickly:

• Updating your site for low competition keywords—the more niche they are, the higher the intent they can target
• Optimizing your product pages with original content—don’t copy the manufacturer's content

• Limiting title tags within 60-70 characters—take a look at how it fares on mobile 

• Using organic keywords that are high on commercial intent such as best running shoes for bigger men—helps in optimizing product and collection pages 

• Finding keywords that match all types of intent such as best running shoes for men with heel pain—create content backed by medical authority

Further Reading: 3 eCommerce SEO mistakes to avoid and get more conversions

8. Create paid ads that deliver  

Paid ads have a significant impact on growing your eCommerce ROI despite rising costs.

So much so, that 43% of high-traffic sites spend more than $5000 on social ads. 

Equally important, Facebook is a high ROI channel with 78% of American customers using it to discover products.

Here are some relevant tips that help you create high-performing ads:

• When creating Google ads, create a list of non-branded negative keywords to reduce unwanted clicks 

• Use price anchoring in your ads—a tactic where the original price is slashed and used as a reference to highlight the discounted price 

• Create a Display Dynamic remarketing program— divide each group by funnel, product viewers, cart visitors, and checkout 

• Use images that represent your brand—either that of your customers or micro-influencers 

Further Reading: Convert More Paid Traffic—9 Strategies That Always Work (eCommerce)

9. Create landing pages to nurture high intent

While it’s easy for landing pages to stand out for shoppers who want to buy, the idea here is to make them appealing to the entire customer journey. 

If you’re confused about this, let’s break it down to see what shoppers really do on a landing page when they’re in:

The ToFu stage: they would have landed on the page because your ad showed up for a generic keyword like “best shoes for flat feet”

The Mofu stage: since this stage is about being more problem-aware (and possibly product-aware), they may be looking for answers to more specific keywords like "leather shoes for flat foot high arch”

The BoFu stage: at this stage, shoppers know the brands and also what each are doing differently, and have a need to find balance between quality, pricing and guarantees

So, this is what you need to ensure your landing pages do for high ROI in eCommerce:

👉 Show social proof: this is a big one and appeals to the entire conversion funnel for obvious reasons (the more love a product receives, the more trustworthy it is, isn’t it?)

👉 Feature multiple recommendations: we recommend up to 5, focusing on the levels of maturity of the audience, amongst which 1 to 2 recommendations can even be bundles

👉 Offer differentiated gated content: you don’t wanna show the same sign-up hooks here that you show on your homepage or product page—instead feature something different with benefits that speak to all kinds of audiences. 

That’s what Popsicle Beauty Club does:

10. Hustle & get emails to drive actual sales

Triggered email marketing can bump your eCommerce ROI—generate 4x revenue with 18x profits. 

And more importantly—they aren’t as complex as people make them out to be. 

Here are some of the best pieces of advice for boosting eCommerce ROI from founders:

• Space out your welcome emails—send the first one right after subscribing; the second 6 hours later; and the  third after 24 hours 

• Set the right expectations—tell them what’s next, the benefits of joining their community, tell them about your brand story

• Write a Founder’s note—a personalized note from the founder plus why the product can be a lifesaver to reduce cart abandonment

• Reserve a separate domain for transactional emails—avoids the spam trap 

• Be wise with order confirmation emails—choose specific timings over business days

• Incentivize surveys—a gift card works great; keep the post-delivery surveys for later

• Break the ice with back-in-stock emails—include nudges such as X people have added this to their carts

• Woo users who haven’t engaged in 3 months—send re-engagement emails

11. Improve repeat purchases

Repeat purchases can be the ultimate ROI booster—except that they can be not that common. 

But not if you get a few things on your eComm store right, primarily the way you honor loyalty (related programs  see ROI of 200% to 300% across industries) AND the way shoppers experience giving feedback. 

To take care of both, you need to introduce:

👉 One question post-purchase micro-surveys: if Tom bought a beach holiday skincare bundle, it may be worthwhile to ask him, “What almost stopped you from buying?” or “Was anything confusing at checkout?” (and add multi-choice answers, along with an empty field)

👉 Behavior-based exit intent feedback pop-up: identify 4-5 behaviors that routinely occur like bounce-offs after shoppers have hovered over size info, triggering questions like “Going already? What info is missing?” with multi-choice answers

👉 Reward behavior-based incentives—share on social media, refer a friend, create UGC, etc. 

👉 Offer incentives beyond points and cash—like first dibs to brand collaborations when shoppers cross a certain AOV threshold

Further Reading: 26 Brilliant Ways To Boost eCommerce Repeat Sales

12. Stick to multichannel selling 

Multichannel selling accounted for 576 billion US dollars in 2023 alone. 

But, eCommerce brands struggle to find the right channels. Here are relevant tips to help you:

• Choose niche channels—channels that aren’t mainstream such as Discord, a subreddit, or Telegram can help you find buyers with the right intent

• Stop repurposing ads to avoid content fatigue—Rework on your ads every 30 days

• Keep your target ROI in mind—you’d want to grow your profit margin while selling on these channels

• Study the algorithm and trends to set realistic KPIs—a reach of 7k on Instagram isn’t the same as 1000 in-store visits via Facebook

At the end of the 30-day, look at your channel sales growth. Even a small growth should let you know that you are on the right path.

Further Reading: How To Increase eCommerce Sales: 23 Immediately Actionable Ideas

13. Get started with affiliate marketing 

Even though 16% of eCommerce sales in the US and Canada come from affiliate marketing, SMBs aren’t great fans. 

That’s because of spammy traffic that dilute eCommerce store ROI. 

Check out these tips to start fresh:

• Enforce your privacy policy—includes a clause saying affiliates are forbidden from posting affiliate links on discount or coupon codes 

• Use micro-influencers that command a large following—partnering with individuals who prioritize ethics can help you run a stable affiliate program

• Stay away from coupon code aggregators—an affiliate link on their site means regular commission for little to no work

• Forbid affiliates to run Google Ads in your name—this will only lead to regular customers milking you for your discounts

Further Reading: The Do's And Don'ts Of Affiliate Marketing For eCommerce Brands

14. Revisit your pricing strategies

When it comes to pricing, eCommerce brands choose to go extreme—sell themselves low or too high. 

And this is done without monitoring ever changing customer preferences. 

Here are some smart pricing tips to boost your eCommerce ROI: 

• For a new product launch—choose cost-plus pricing to achieve satisfactory profits or try price skimming when you recover 50% of the production cost

• Use the 75:25 rule—limit discounts to 25% of your high selling categories so too many discounts won’t kill your profit margins

• If you are an SMB, offering a price match guarantee will hurt your margins 

• For beauty products, prioritize Cost of Goods Sold—it refers to all the direct costs incurred during production such as Ingredients, formula, product testing, and certification

Further Reading: eCommerce Pricing Strategy: 13 Standout Brand Examples

4 Immediate Marketing Strategies to Boost eCommerce ROI

The process of uplifting your eCommerce store ROI is a long-term one. 

However, there are some marketing strategies that are better suited to deliver results within a few weeks. 

1. Retarget through high-intent product-based ads

Since this is solely based on real-time behavior, shoppers expressing interest and intent becomes higher with such ads. Target those who’ve:

• Repeatedly browsed products but not bought
• Repeatedly browsed categories but not bought
• Added items to cart but not proceeded to checkout

Pro Tip: Add personalized urgency like “Size M selling the fastest”

2. Relevant social proof at key drop-off points

When it comes to social proof triggering higher ROI in eCommerce, context is king. 

Put simply, not all kinds of social proof AND not all the time. 

On product page: short review snippet right above / below primary CTA (ensure it focuses on clearly explaining the key benefit)

On mini cart / cart page: highlight the star ratings and feature a post-purchase review snippet to subtly suggest people are happy having purchased the product - “Item arrived in 2 days, beautifully packed.”

On checkout page: mention the number of total positive reviews your brand has garnered plus how many people are happy with their purchases

Pro Tip: Avoid showing reviews / snippets without the timeframe mentioned

3. Embed a quiz that makes conversions faster

Product finder quizzes are all the rage, but can all of them be great as an eComm ROI strategy?

We think not—whicb is why you’ll have to ensure the quiz:

• Features one word & one image tiles for each question (keep it to a max of 5 questions)
• Skips obvious, big picture questions (and focuses on super specific pain-focused queries)
• Shows relatable, benefit focused answers (1 or 2 powerful words per answer tile works best)

4. Create targeted post-purchase email flows

This can impact your online store ROI rather positively because we all know retention is easier than acquiring. 

• Drive a welcome flow with trust at the center: spread this across 3 emails where the first focuses on setting expectations on shipping, the second adds value in terms of usage types and the third one talks extensively about how existing customers are having a great time with the product

• Drive a replenishment flow with value at the center: remind them about replenishing their current favorite but at a discount, then, send a bundle prompt in a week and finally, show them similar products they’re a lot likely to love

• Drive a loyalty flow with advocacy at the center: a 2-email flow, the first of which you can send within 10 days of purchase saying you love that they’ve shopped and that it’s a great time to refer a friend. For the second email, nudge them to leave UGC with a compelling hook like “Want to be featured on our page?”

UX is the ultimate online store ROI gamechanger

To get to a positive eCommerce ROI, what you need is stellar UX.

Something that shoppers will look back on, and say, “Woah! That was easy, I wanna go back and shop again!”

Because, after all, 98% of visitors who visit an eCommerce site—drop off without buying anything. 

Why: user experience issues that cause friction for visitors. 

And this is the problem Convertcart solves. 

We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experience—and 2X their conversions. 

How we can help you: 

Our conversion experts can audit your site—identify UX issues, and suggest changes to improve conversions.