Average Revenue Per Session (ARPS)

The average revenue per session (ARPS) is the average amount of money generated by every unique session or visit to your website. Brands and retailers can calculate the ARPS by dividing the total revenue in a particular time frame by the total number of unique website visits. This way, the value of each site session is weighed.

The Benefits of Monitoring ARPS

The average revenue per session helps retailers to determine the health and performance of their brand. It can provide insights into the effectiveness of existing strategies, identifying which efforts are generating results and which areas need optimization to maximize desired outcomes.

When the ARPS is trending upwards, this can mean that more high-intent customers who are likely to convert are starting more sessions on the site. Meanwhile, a downwards trend may indicate the website having more visitors but fewer conversions. The metric also provides insights into the customer lifetime value, significant sources of traffic, and shopper drop-off.

As it monitors each session, ARPS can shed light on the performance of the individual end-to-end customer experience. Ideally, a smooth, frictionless shopping journey should yield better revenue per session and can encourage even low-intent visitors to convert.

How to Improve Average Revenue Per Session

The average revenue per session improves when the number of visits or money generated per visit increases. To achieve that, it all boils down to having an eCommerce site that is user-friendly and provides exactly what shoppers are looking to find. The following are some UX best practices and tips on how to achieve a positive trending ARPS:

• Make sure search and navigation are easy and intuitive – This means that customers should have an easy time discovering what they expect to find on your website. Cluttered navigation or a search engine that shows irrelevant results can be the deciding factor in abandoning your brand and heading over to the next competing site. To minimize friction, you can provide shoppers the ability to search with an image that eliminates the need to find the right keywords for text search. You can also leverage well-organized navigation and filters to help them narrow down thousands of product selections.

• Use high-quality, relatable photos throughout your website – It’s not enough that pictures are high definition and easily magnified. What also matters is shoppers seeing them in context and at different angles. Good photos establish trust and nudge shoppers to purchase even when they can’t feel or see an item in person. This is especially important on product detail pages where customers are nearer the end of the customer journey.

• Showcase user-generated content – In this day and age, shoppers rarely take the leap without reading and checking countless reviews and photos. Help shoppers gain the confidence they need by giving them access to positive reviews from happy and satisfied customers. You can also study what your customers’ worries are to help you decide what content to display on the different sections of your site.

• Ensure that product discovery is ongoing – You can increase your average revenue per session and basket size by suggesting items that can go with your customers’ chosen cart items. Moreover, when shoppers encounter an out-of-stock item or a color that’s unavailable, you can help them continue their customer journey by enabling them to discover products that are visually similar to the one they’re currently viewing.

• Personalize the customer experience – Ultimately, by incorporating personalization into any ARPS-boosting tactic, you can ensure that customers not only easily navigate your site but also get exposed to relevant product recommendations, search results, and even product listing pages that prioritize their intent and unique tastes in real-time. This way, shoppers will keep coming back for more, increasing ARPS over time.

If you want to learn more about optimizing your eCommerce UX, check out this ebook.