Glossary · Conversion · also ecommerce funnel, purchase funnel
What is a conversion funnel?
A conversion funnel is the ordered sequence of steps a shopper passes through on the way to a purchase: landing, viewing a product, adding to cart, reaching checkout and buying. Measured strictly, a session counts at a step only if it cleared the step before, which is what makes the drop between two steps meaningful.
- Reviewed 6 October 2026
In more detail
Funnels are often measured loosely, counting anyone who reached checkout whether or not they ever added to cart. That inflates the later steps and hides where the loss actually happens.
The step with the largest absolute loss is where the money is, and it is rarely the step with the worst percentage. Checkout-to-purchase usually looks poor, and that is normal retail behaviour. Losing thousands of sessions before the product page is the larger problem, and it stays hidden if you rank steps by rate.
Key points
- Measure steps in order: a session counts at a step only if it cleared the previous one.
- Rank losses by volume, not by rate.
- The step with the worst percentage is usually the least actionable one.
Related terms
Guides that go deeper
- Diagnosis · 7 minHow to find which pages lose you the most customersExit rate finds your order confirmation page. Ranking pages by lost revenue finds the money. The calculation, in the order that gets there fastest.Read
- Diagnosis · 5 minTraffic but no sales: how to find out whyHow to diagnose a Shopify store that gets visitors but few orders: the checks to run, from the cheapest to check to the most expensive, and what each one finds.Read
Last reviewed against the product on 6 October 2026.
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