Ecommerce Merchant Benchmarks 2027: Methodology

This page explains how we run the EcommerceViews Merchant Benchmarks 2027 survey. We published it before the results, and we’ll add the final numbers here when the report comes out in January 2027.

What the study measures

The survey asks UK and US online stores about how they perform and how they run. Each question is there because a guide on this site needs that figure and no reliable public source has it for smaller stores.

Who can take part

Owners and managers of online stores that have taken orders in the last 12 months, with most customers in the UK or US. Three opening questions check this. Anyone who doesn’t run a store, works for an agency, or sells mainly outside the UK and US is thanked and the survey ends.

When and how

The survey runs online in Tally. It opened on 17 October 2026 for a small pilot to test the questions. The main fieldwork runs from 4 November to 4 December 2026. The report will say whether pilot answers are included.

We reach merchants through the EcommerceViews newsletter and website, partner companies with merchant audiences, and merchant communities that allow surveys. The only reward for taking part is an early copy of the report. There is no prize draw.

How we check answers

Before we work out any figures, we remove answers that:

• fail the opening questions
• finish the whole survey in under 2 minutes
• give the same answer to every question

The report will say how many answers we removed for each reason.

How we report the numbers

Most questions ask for a range, such as “1 to 2%”, rather than an exact figure. People answer faster and are more willing to share numbers this way. We report the share of stores in each range and the median range.

We only show a breakdown, such as UK against US or Shopify against WooCommerce, when at least 50 stores answered in that group.

Our target is at least 300 completed answers. If the sample were random, 300 answers would give a margin of error of about ±5.7 points on a 50% answer, and 400 would give about ±4.9 points. Our sample is not random, because merchants choose whether to take part. So the results describe the stores that answered, not every online store, and we treat the margin of error as a rough guide only.

Privacy

We don’t ask for names or company names. We only publish totals and percentages. Raw answers are deleted 12 months after the report is published. If someone asks for a copy of the report, their email goes into a separate form that is never linked to their answers. Our privacy policy has the details.

Independence

EcommerceViews is run by SEOPAPA LTD. Our author, Ajenoui Imad, is Marketing Director at OpenCart, which is one of the platforms listed in the survey. Every platform appears in the same way, and no company can pay to be included or change the findings. Ajenoui Imad runs the analysis and writes the report.

The full questionnaire

These are the questions as respondents see them. Most questions after the opening three also offer “Don’t know”.

1. Do you own or run an online store that has taken orders in the last 12 months? (Yes, No)
2. What is your role? (Owner or founder, Manager or employee, Agency or freelancer working for a store, Other)
3. Where are most of your customers? (UK, US, Rest of Europe, Elsewhere)
4. What do you mainly sell? (Fashion and apparel, Health and beauty, Home and garden, Food and drink, Electronics, Sports and outdoors, Digital products, Other)
5. What was your online revenue in the last 12 months? (Under £100k, £100k to £500k, £500k to £1m, £1m to £5m, £5m to £10m, Over £10m, with dollar amounts shown alongside)
6. How many people are on your team, including you? (1, 2 to 5, 6 to 20, 21 to 50, Over 50)
7. Do you sell to other businesses? (No, Yes under 25% of revenue, Yes 25 to 75%, Yes over 75%)
8. Which B2B features do you use? Shown only to stores that sell to businesses. (Account-specific prices, Quotes, Reorder from order history, Payment on account, Bulk order forms, None)
9. What is your main ecommerce platform? (Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, Adobe Commerce (Magento), PrestaShop, OpenCart, Custom-built, Other)
10. Are you planning to change platform in the next 12 months? (No, Considering it, Yes already planned)
11. If you plan to change, which platform are you moving to? Shown only to stores planning a change. (Free text)
12. Where else do you sell? (Amazon, eBay, Etsy, TikTok Shop, Physical shop, Wholesale to retailers, None)
13. What was your store’s average conversion rate over the last 3 months? (Under 0.5%, 0.5 to 1%, 1 to 2%, 2 to 3%, 3 to 5%, Over 5%)
14. What is your average order value? (Under £25, £25 to £50, £50 to £100, £100 to £250, Over £250, with dollar amounts shown alongside)
15. What share of your online orders are placed on a phone? (Under 25%, 25 to 50%, 50 to 75%, Over 75%)
16. What is your return rate, as a share of orders? (Under 2%, 2 to 5%, 5 to 10%, 10 to 20%, Over 20%)
17. Which payment options do you offer? (Cards, PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay, Shop Pay, Buy now pay later, Bank transfer)
18. Which couriers do you use most? Choose up to three. (Royal Mail, Evri, DPD, DHL, UPS, FedEx, USPS, Other)
19. Do customers pay for returns? (Always free, Free in some cases, Customer pays, We don’t accept returns)
20. Where do you use AI tools today? (Product descriptions, Marketing copy or ads, Customer service, On-site search or recommendations, Forecasting or inventory, Not at all)
21. Has AI saved your team measurable time? (Yes a lot, Somewhat, No, Too early to say)
22. What are your three biggest challenges for 2027? Choose up to three. (Traffic, Conversion, Ad costs, Shipping costs, Returns, Cash flow, Competition from marketplaces, Hiring, Platform limits)
23. How confident are you that your marketing budget is well spent? (1 Not at all confident to 5 Very confident)

Changes to this page

17 October 2026: method published before fieldwork.

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