How is the Shopify conversion rate calculated, and why?

Data and Analytics
1

Shopify collects data at the backend, and nicely shows basic KPIs in the dashboard.

This is a screenshot from the dasboard:

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As you can see, the store had 8,998 sessions, 520 orders, and a conversion rate of 2.46%.

To the best of my knowledge, the industries definition for conversion rate is:
conversion rate = orders / sessions

This Shopify blog article confirms that Shopify uses the same definition.

However, if we look at the numbers in the screenshot and calculate the conversion rate using the method above, we get:

conversion rate = 520 / 8998 = 5.78%

Yet… the dashboard shows a conversion rate of 2.46%… that is quite a big discrepancy!

Looking at the mouseover information for ‘Conversion rate’, it shows:

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So, this would mean that ‘sessions that completed checkout‘ is not the same as the number of ‘orders'?

Can somebody from Shopify please explain what the differences between the two are?

2

You’re right in a sense. A “conversion” according to Shopify is not necessarily completing checkout with an order number. It could be any action worth noting. It can include filling out a form, signing up for a newsletter, and of course making a purchase. So it’s not always orders/sessions.

3

Hello @Jacco-V

That’s a sharp observation, and your math is correct.

The discrepancy you’ve found isn’t an error, but a key difference in how Shopify’s dashboard calculates its conversion rate. Instead of the standard formula of (Total Orders / Total Sessions), the dashboard metric is based on unique converting sessions, using the formula (Sessions with at least one Order / Total Sessions).

This is because a single customer can place multiple orders within one 30-minute session, but Shopify only counts this as one “converting session.”

Your own data shows this perfectly in action: your 520 orders were actually generated from just 221 unique sessions (8,998 * 2.46%), which indicates you have a healthy number of customers placing multiple orders per visit.

So, you’re right that ‘orders’ and ‘converting sessions’ are different, and that’s the source of the discrepancy you’re seeing.

Hope this helps!

4

Thanks for taking the time to add your thoughts.

While you reasoning sounds nice, this particular shop has near 0% repeat sales, within the time period shown in the screenshots. So your logic cannot be the source of the discrepancy shown.

5

The bigger issue here isn’t which definition is correct, it’s that a core KPI can change meaning without the decision context changing with it.