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 required for that? Monthly, weekly… and daily? And what does it actually cost to get more visitors to your shop? You will find that answer in this article.

Step 1 - What do you want to earn?

To know how many visitors your webshop needs, you have to go all the way back to the beginning and ask yourself this question: “What do you want to earn?” I almost always ask this question at the beginning of a coaching process. It strikes me that many entrepreneurs find it difficult to determine how much profit they want to make per month. People often say 'as much as possible' and I understand that, but this does not provide insight into what you need to do to achieve this. And if you don't have a clear goal in mind, you end up just doing something and that often leads to nothing.

Let's take the average average income as an example. That is 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 the amounts of all orders from the past 90 days and divide by the number of orders. That is the average order value and it depends on various factors per webshop, such as the industry you are in, the time of year, etc. If you have a shop in stationery, your order value is a lot lower than with a webshop that sells SMEG. sells refrigerators. I'll just name a few. For the calculation example, let's use an average order value of €65 and if we divide that by two for convenience, you have the average gross profit per sale (all costs removed): €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 generate your income. To do this, divide the gross profit by the order value.

• Desired gross profit per €3,100 (gross profit, i.e. turnover minus purchasing price)
• Average order value €33 (also gross profit)
• €3,100: €33 = number of average orders needed per month 94
• Number of average orders needed per week 24
• Number of average orders needed per day 3 to 4

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

💡 Useful: save this article + the (fill-in) formulas as a PDF

What is conversion?

Conversion actually means very simply '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 aim for visitors to register for your newsletter by leaving their email address.

The conversion rate of SME web shops and sites is often around 1%. This means that 1 in 100 visitors will take 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 achieve a conversion between 2 - 3% and preferably higher.

• So 100 visitors makes 1 order = 1% conversion

Step 4 - What is the conversion rate of your webshop?

With good webshop software such as Shopify you have a nice, clear dashboard and that is called Analytics. There you will find useful figures such as: total turnover, visitors, percentage of returning customers, conversion percentage, average order value, etc. Exactly the numbers that are needed and as described above. If you have such a shop, you can easily scoop out those numbers here. See what Shopify Analytics looks like below.

Step 5 - The math

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

• 94 number of average orders per month x 100 = 9,400 monthly visitors. 9,400: 30 days = 313. Then you need 313 visitors per day (for an average income).

If you have a well-optimized webshop that converts 3%, the sum goes like this:

• 94 orders x 33 = 3,100 monthly visitors. 3,100: 30 = 103. Then you need 103 visitors per day (for an average income).

How nice to have it in front of you like this. Because, trust me - ensuring that your traffic is 100 visitors per day is really doable. And even more good news: your conversion also increases.

💡 Useful: save this article + the (complete) formulas as a PDF

Step 6 - Three numbers 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 take care of:

• a higher order value
• more visitors
• higher conversion

For example, giving your conversion a big boost

Increase the conversion of your webshop or website with the Conversion Booster. You will learn what you need to know about conversion. You scan your webshop at all crucial points and immediately improve where necessary. Because you now know: if the conversion increases, the turnover increases. You can order the booster separately for €197 or with my help €497.

Would you like more of these types of useful tools? Then take a serious look at a SYSO VIP subscription . This gives you direct access to all SYSO tools and the SYSO VIP hangout where you will find a great community of ambitious entrepreneurs with the motto 'We rise by lifting others'. SYSO VIP is the way to grow with fun!

How do I get more visitors?

Well, now that you know the formula and perhaps your own figures, you may still be missing one thing. Because you can 'pull' all the numbers. This is how you can increase your conversion with the aforementioned booster. There are also useful tricks to increase your order value, but the biggest issue always remains: how do I get more visitors (aka traffic)?

For more visitors you need marketing as simple as that. In short, you have free and paid traffic. When thinking about free traffic, think of content marketing, SEO, organic social media posts, sending newsletters, excellent customer service, etc. This is not really free, because your time obviously costs money and so does a newsletter course, for example.

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

👉 Learn more 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 go to a number of euros. Prices vary widely and depend on countless factors such as industry, text, design, timing, type of media, audience, etc.

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

That's not really a good idea, is it? Fortunately, many ways of marketing (paid and free) can be combined. We call that 'your magic mix', a combination of a few super effective resources that are gold for you when it comes to more visitors. Because really, just because everything is possible doesn't mean everything has to be done.

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

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

A good online store has it all

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

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

Suzanne from Little Suzies did this and turned it into a complete process 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, and could not manage her webshop herself. Let alone make a career out of it. Now 1 year, a rebranding, new webshop, a coaching program and SYSO VIP subscription later, she has completely found her niche. Her earrings are selling like hot cakes, she is working on a wholesale channel and her webshop is running like crazy. Not only has her business changed, it also has a huge impact on her life and the fun she now has.

"Without SYSO and golden ticket, my webshop was still a point of frustration, where it is now a thriving company" , Suzanne - Littlesuzies.nl

In addition to 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 a bit shaky, 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 stand out much better. 

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

Fancy a revamp? Due to the high demand for our services, we accept three revamps per month. This way we have enough time for each project, we can guarantee the quality of our work and it also remains a lot of fun. Please contact us to find out what the price is and when we can do your revamp.

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

1. First calculate what you want to earn per month.
2. Find out the average order value of your webshop.
3. Calculate how many orders you need per month to achieve your desired monthly income.
4. Know what the conversion rate of your webshop is.
5. Try to increase the conversion rate of your webshop 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 on your own.

The links from this article

• SYSO VIP
• Golden ticket
• Conversion booster
• Content coach program
• 1-on-1 business coaching
• SYSO webinar TV
• Webshop revamp
• Online store
• Branding

Did you find this spicy?

In the monthly masterclasses of SYSO VIP, these types of matters are discussed in the group and you are not alone.

Would you prefer 1-on-1 help? I can do these calculations one-on-one with and for you in a business coaching process . That gives so much more insight and plenty of tools to create your growth plan!

Sources: Shopify, Nowweb, Roxtar