Overview

Hold rate is the percentage of customers who add items to their cart but then abandon it without completing the purchase. It is calculated by dividing the number of abandoned carts by the total number of carts created.

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What is Hold rate?

Hold rate is an important metric to track because it can help you identify areas where your checkout process is falling short and make improvements to increase sales. There are a number of reasons why customers abandon their carts. By tracking your hold rate and identifying the reasons why customers are abandoning their carts, you can take steps to improve your checkout process and increase sales.

Formula

Hold Rate = (Number of Orders Placed in Cart / Total Number of Carts Created) * 100

Example

  • Let’s say an online clothing store has 100 carts created. Out of these carts, 20 do not get to a sale. To calculate the hold rate: Hold Rate = (20 / 100) * 100 = 20%
  • So, the hold rate for the online clothing store is 20%.

Why is Hold rate important?

Hold rate is an important metric for ecommerce businesses because it can help them identify areas where their checkout process is falling short and make improvements to increase sales.

When a customer adds items to their cart but then abandons it, it means that there is something about the checkout process that is preventing them from completing their purchase. By tracking their hold rate and identifying the reasons why customers are abandoning their carts, ecommerce businesses can take steps to improve their checkout process and increase sales.

Which factors impact Hold rate?

Several factors can contribute to a high or low hold rate such as product quality, customer service quality, user experience, pricing, brand reputation and customer behavior on the platform.

How can Hold rate be improved?

Improving hold rate requires a deep dive into customer behavior and tweaking a company’s operations. Major steps can include enhancing product quality, optimizing user experience on the platform, introducing loyalty programs, providing impeccable customer service, and product recommendations based on customer behavior and preferences.

What is Hold rate’s relationship with other metrics?

Hold rate has a direct correlation with customer retention rate, and customer lifetime value (CLTV), and indirectly with customer acquisition cost (CAC). Higher hold rates lead to higher customer retention rates and higher CLTV, indicating the potential profitability of a customer over time. Also, businesses with high hold rates will likely have lower CAC as they are not constantly needing to attract new customers.