You attract traffic, and it evaporates before the purchase. The usual reaction is to buy even more traffic, when the problem is elsewhere: in the funnel that turns a visitor into a customer, and that leaks somewhere. One figure gives the scale of the waste: according to the Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate in e-commerce reaches 70.2% in 2025 (verified 15 June 2026). Seven buyers out of ten who had put a product in the cart leave without paying. This guide explains how to map your funnel, spot the leaks, and seal them.
The funnel, step by step
A conversion funnel is the sequence of steps a visitor goes through, from discovery to the final action. At each step, some people continue, some drop off. Visualising that journey makes visible the leaks you suffer without seeing them: the home page that does not make you want to go further, the product page that leaves a question unanswered, the form that is too long, the payment that worries.
The good news is that most leaks are design problems, and therefore fixable. Baymard estimates that fixing the usability flaws of the checkout funnel alone can increase conversions by up to 35% (verified 15 June 2026). You do not win by pushing more traffic, you win by stopping the loss of what you already have.
Spotting where it leaks
Optimisation starts with measurement, not intuition. You look, step by step, at how many visitors move to the next one, and above all where the drop is steepest. That is where the lost money hides. The most frequent leaks are known: a lack of reassurance at the moment of paying, costs that appear too late, a forced account-creation step, a painful mobile journey. Abandonment is also higher on mobile, around 80% versus 66% on desktop according to Baymard (verified 15 June 2026), which often points to mobile as the first front.
Sealing the leaks, in the right order
You handle the most costly leak first, not the easiest. A few levers always return. Reduce the steps and fields to the essentials. Show costs and conditions early, not at the last second. Reassure where trust wavers, through proof and clarity. And guarantee a mobile journey as simple as on desktop. Each of these levers is tested and measured, one at a time, to know which one really pays.
The brief before the brief. Before relaunching an acquisition campaign, measure your conversion rate at each step. If the funnel leaks, paying for more traffic means pouring more water into a holed bucket. You seal first, then fill.
Measuring continuously
A funnel is never optimised once and for all. Behaviours change, devices evolve, a new step introduces a new leak. You track the overall and per-step conversion rate, test one improvement at a time, keep what raises conversion. For a sales site, this work joins that of the e-commerce store, where the checkout funnel is the engine room.
FAQ: conversion funnel
What is a conversion funnel? The sequence of steps a visitor goes through to the final action (purchase, quote, sign-up). At each step, some people drop off; the funnel makes those leaks visible and fixable.
Why are so many carts abandoned? Mainly because of funnel flaws: late costs, mandatory account, painful mobile journey, lack of reassurance. Baymard puts average abandonment at 70% in 2025 (verified 15 June 2026), mostly fixable.
How do you improve your conversion rate? By measuring each step, handling the most costly leak first, and testing one improvement at a time. Fixing checkout usability can win up to 35% more conversions (verified 15 June 2026).
Do you need more traffic or a better funnel? Most often a better funnel first. Pushing traffic into a leaking funnel wastes the acquisition budget. You seal, then fill.
Does mobile change anything? A lot. Abandonment is higher on it (around 80% versus 66% on desktop, Baymard, verified 15 June 2026). The mobile journey is often the first place to fix.
Before you request a quote
A conversion funnel is not improved by intuition, it is measured step by step and fixed by the most costly leak. Map the journey, find where people drop off, test, keep what pays. Traffic comes after the sealing, not before.
To move forward, we map your funnel, identify the steps where you lose the most visitors, and fix them in order of impact, measuring before and after.
