How many visitors does your webshop need to make a living? (the formula)

So, let's not beat around the bush: how many visitors does a healthy webshop need? A webshop that provides you with a good income or... more. How much traffic is needed for that? Monthly, weekly... and daily? And what does it actually cost to get more visitors to your shop? You'll find the answer in this article.

Step 1 - What do you want to earn?

To know how many visitors your webshop needs, you have to go right back to the beginning and ask yourself this question: "What do you want to earn?". I almost always ask this question at the start of a coaching trajectory. It strikes me that many entrepreneurs find it difficult to determine how much profit they want to make per month. Often, 'as much as possible' is said, and I understand that, but this doesn't clarify what you need to do to achieve it. And if you don't have that goal clearly in mind, you end up just doing things randomly, and that often leads to nothing.

Let's take the median average income as an example. It's currently around €3,100 gross per month.

Step 2 - What is the average order value in your shop? 

The easiest way to calculate the average order value is to add up the amounts of all orders from the past 90 days and divide by the number of orders. That's the average order value, and it depends on various factors for each webshop, such as the industry you're in, the time of year, etc. If you have a stationery shop, your order value will be much lower than for a webshop that sells SMEG refrigerators. Just to give an example. For the calculation example, let's assume an average order value of €65, and if we divide that by two for convenience, you have the average gross profit per sale (after all costs have been deducted): €33.
 

Step 3 - How many orders do you need?

Now that we know what we want to earn and what the average order value is, we can calculate how many orders you need per month to achieve your income. To do this, you divide the gross profit by the order value.

• Desired gross profit per month €3,100 (gross profit, so revenue minus purchase price)
• Average order value €33 (also gross profit)
• €3,100 : €33 = average number of orders needed per month 94
• Average number of orders needed per week 24
• Average number of orders needed per day 3 to 4

You can, of course, adjust the figures yourself now to your desired income and average order value, and then you have the number of orders you need weekly. But... how do you get those orders?

What is conversion?

Conversion simply means 'achieving a set goal'. For example, if you determine that the goal of your webshop is for visitors to place an order, then that is 'conversion'. But you can also have the goal of visitors signing up for your newsletter by leaving their email address.

The conversion rate for SME webshops and sites is often around 1%. This means that 1 out of 100 visitors takes the action you have set as a goal. In other words, 99% of webshop visitors do nothing (of what you want) and leave (empty-handed). With SYSO, we always try to aim for a conversion between 2 - 3%, and preferably higher.

• So 100 visitors make 1 order = 1% conversion

Step 4 - What is your webshop's conversion?

With good webshop software like Shopify, you have a nice clear dashboard called Analytics. There you'll conveniently find figures such as: total revenue, visitors, percentage of returning customers, conversion rate, average order value, etc. Exactly the numbers needed and as described above. If you have such a shop, you can easily extract those numbers. See below what Shopify Analytics looks like.

Step 5 - The calculation

Suppose we assume 1% conversion, as the average SME webshop has, then we arrive at the following calculation:

• 94 average orders per month x 100 = 9,400 monthly visitors. 9,400 : 30 days = 313. So you need 313 visitors per day (for a median income).

If you have a well-optimized webshop that converts at 3%, the sum is as follows:

• 94 orders x 33 = 3,100 monthly visitors. 3,100 : 30 = 103. So you need 103 visitors per day (for a median income).

Isn't it nice to have it laid out like this? Because, trust me - ensuring your traffic is 100 visitors a day is really achievable. And even better news: increasing your conversion is too.

Step 6 - Three figures to work on

If you've made it this far: congratulations! You now have a very clear insight into what your webshop needs. Now it's time to ensure:

• a higher average order value
• more visitors
• higher conversion

For example, giving your conversion a big boost

How do I get more visitors?

For more visitors, you need marketing, as simple as that. In short, you have free and paid traffic. For free traffic, think of content marketing, SEO, organic social media posts, sending newsletters, excellent customer service, etc. This isn't truly free, as your time costs money, and a newsletter course, for example, also costs money.

But paid traffic often refers to advertisements such as Google and social media ads.

👉 More information about SYSO VIP

What does more traffic cost?

We sometimes have ads that run at €0.10 per result, but there are also some that shoot up to a few euros. Prices vary widely and also depend on innumerable factors such as industry, text, design, timing, type of media, audience, etc.

• You often hear that in a quick calculation example, a lead costs about €1. In that case, 1,000 more visitors cost you €1,000. If 1% then orders something for €33 (gross)...

That's not a great idea, is it? Fortunately, there are many ways to combine marketing (paid and free). We call this 'your magic mix', a combination of a few super effective tools that are golden for you when it comes to more visitors. Because really, just because you can do everything doesn't mean you have to.

Useful fact: the average marketing costs are often set at 20%.

💡 Also read: The (almost) invaluable value of your existing customer

A good webshop has it all

A good webshop converts, attracts visitors, and is so appealing that your audience returns. This is the home base of your business, where you can easily manipulate your numbers and give your (potential) customers a pleasant, safe place to shop again and again.

Entrepreneurs regularly approach SYSO for a restyling of their branding, often in combination with moving their webshop to Shopify. These are great projects where we see amazing results. 

Suzanne from Little Suzies did this and made it a complete trajectory by going for a Golden ticket. When she came to us, she said it was "make or break." She had no direction with her jewelry shop, sold very little, couldn't manage her webshop herself. Let alone make a career out of it. Now, 1 year, a rebranding, a new webshop, a coaching trajectory, and a SYSO VIP subscription later, she has fully found her stride. Her earrings are selling like hotcakes, she's working on a wholesale channel, and her webshop is running like crazy. Not only has her business changed, but it has also had a huge impact on her life and the joy she now experiences.

"Without SYSO and the golden ticket, my webshop would still be a point of frustration, whereas now it's a well-running business", Suzanne - Littlesuzies.nl

Besides a complete Golden ticket, you can, of course, opt for good (re)branding, because ultimately everything depends on that in the beginning. Or if your branding is in order, but your shop is just rattling, you can move or... go for a Shopify revamp.

Revamping your webshop, what is that?

The goal of a Shopify revamp is a shop where your brand and products come across much better. 

• We advise you on a brand new theme with many useful marketing tricks
• We make your pages conversion-oriented
• We look at your SEO and you get a cheatsheet to get started with it
• We give you tips for smart apps (and install them)
• We make your shop multilingual (automatically with an app for two extra languages)
• Finally, you'll receive a coaching session with me to go through everything thoroughly and ask any questions you still have. 

Fancy a revamp? Due to high demand for our services, we take on three revamps per month. This allows us to dedicate enough time to each project, guarantee the quality of our work, and keep it enjoyable. Please contact us to inquire about the price and when we can schedule your revamp.

Long story short: How many visitors does a webshop need to make a living from it?

1. First, calculate what you want to earn per month.
2. Find out your webshop's average order value.
3. Calculate how many orders you need per month to reach your desired monthly income.
4. Know your webshop's conversion rate.
5. Try to increase your webshop's conversion rate if you want to earn more.
6. Find your own magic marketing mix.
7. Create a strategy to get more visitors to your webshop.
8. Let SYSO help you if you find it difficult to achieve this alone.

The links from this article

• SYSO VIP
• Golden ticket
• 1-on-1 business coaching
• Webshop
• Branding