The Top Sources of IndieCommerce Store Traffic in 2016

Three referral sources were responsible for almost 75 percent of traffic to IndieCommerce stores in 2016, according to IndieCommerce Director Phil Davies.

The number-one referral source for IndieCommerce stores remained Google search, which was responsible for roughly 48 percent of sales on IndieCommerce sites. This was an 11 percent increase over 2015.

The second highest referral source to IndieCommerce sites was from visitors who were tagged by Google analytics as being “direct.” Most of these referrals were probably from e-mail marketing, said Davies. In 2016, these shoppers were responsible for a little more than 24 percent of all IndieCommerce transactions, a 29 percent increase over 2015. (Details on what Google interprets as “direct” can be found here.)

The third highest referral source to IndieCommerce sites in 2016 was people who were using mobile devices on Facebook prior to visiting a store’s website. They were responsible for just 1.4 percent of all IndieCommerce sales, but there were large numbers of them browsing, said Davies.

“My takeaway from these top three sources of referral traffic and sales is that your website needs to be mobile friendly,” he concluded. “In 2017, Google search results are going to prioritize websites that are mobile friendly and most Facebook users seem to be on mobile devices.”

Questions about IndieCommerce can be sent to [email protected].