This report is built from anonymized session and order data across Shogun-instrumented store pages. A store is included if it recorded at least one order and at least one session during the reporting period. Stores with conversion rates below 0.1% or above 25% are excluded as non-representative of active ecommerce operations.

Benchmark figures (medians, means, and percentile ranges) reflect all active stores in the reported period — H1 2026, January through June. Quarter-over-quarter movement figures compare only stores active in both Q1 and Q2 2026. Within-quarter monthly trend figures compare only stores active in all three months of Q2. Both movement measures hold the merchant cohort constant to isolate real performance changes from shifts in cohort composition.

Industry categories are derived from Storeleads data using Google Product Taxonomy classifications. Revenue bands are based on Storeleads estimated annual GMV. Both are third-party estimates and may not reflect exact reported figures.

Across 745 active e-commerce stores in H1 2026, the median conversion rate was 1.74% and the cohort mean was 2.61%. The middle 50% of stores converted between 0.88% and 3.39%. A "good" conversion rate depends on your industry — Health & Wellness stores median at 3.31% (mean 4.04%), while Home & Garden stores median at 1.62% (mean 2.12%). Use your industry-specific median as the right reference point, not the cross-industry average.

Conversion rate equals orders divided by sessions, expressed as a percentage. A store with 1,000 sessions and 17 orders has a 1.7% conversion rate. We calculate at the store level — summing each store's months in the reporting period into a single rate — then report both the median (typical merchant) and the mean (cohort average) across all stores in the group. We do not calculate it as orders divided by unique users; a customer who visits three times and converts once contributes 1 order and 3 sessions.

The median across our 745-store H1 2026 dataset is 1.74%. The mean (average) is 2.61%, pulled higher by a long right tail of high-converting stores — primarily in Health & Wellness, Beauty & Personal Care, and Food & Beverage. Both are useful summaries: the median describes the typical merchant, the mean describes the cohort average. For benchmarking your own store, use the median.

Health & Wellness (median 3.31%, mean 4.04%), Beauty & Personal Care (median 3.16%, mean 3.76%), and Food & Beverage (median 2.99%, mean 4.42%) led the dataset in H1 2026. All three are repeat-purchase categories where customers self-select before they arrive.

Sports & Outdoors (median 1.24%, mean 1.87%), Autos & Vehicles (median 1.26%, mean 1.63%), and Consumer Electronics (median 1.39%, mean 1.38%) had the lowest medians in H1 2026. These are considered-purchase categories where customers compare, leave, and return before buying — and where higher AOVs partially compensate for lower conversion.

Mixed. The full H1 2026 median across all active stores was 1.74% with a mean of 2.61%. Quarter over quarter (Q1 to Q2 2026), industry movement was split — six of ten industries gained ground while four softened. Food & Beverage jumped +22.6% QoQ, while Toys & Hobbies fell -10.0%. Within Q2 itself, the aggregate trend was steady: 1.87% in April, 1.86% in May, and 1.95% in June.

For most operators, the realistic next milestone is the median or P75 of your own industry — not the cross-industry top quartile. If you're below 1%, target your industry median first. If you're between 1% and 3%, target your industry P75. Above 3% conversion, focus shifts from conversion lift to AOV expansion and customer lifetime value.

Two main reasons. First, traffic mix shifts: a campaign that brings in more cold paid-social traffic will lower your conversion rate even with no site experience change. Second, seasonality: monthly aggregate conversion can drift 5-15% between months even in a stable cohort — Q2 2026 in our dataset moved from 1.87% in April to 1.95% in June, and quarter-over-quarter industry swings ranged from +22.6% to -10.0%. Most month-to-month conversion movements are a mix of these two factors rather than a site-quality change.

Median. The median is the right number for "what does a typical merchant look like" — half above, half below — and isn't pulled around by outliers. The mean is useful as a diagnostic: when mean and median move in different directions, the cohort is changing shape. When they move together, the trend is broad-based. For setting your own store's targets, use median.