Ecommerce Marketing Funnel: 5 Key Stages for Conversion

Knowing how to smoothly guide potential customers through the buying journey can make all the difference in increasing conversions. This guide breaks down the ecommerce marketing funnel and shares practical tips for improving results at every stage.

What is an Ecommerce Marketing Funnel?

An ecommerce marketing funnel traces the customer journey from discovering your brand to becoming a loyal buyer, moving through stages from initial awareness to purchase and beyond. An understanding of each stage is key for brands looking to create an effective marketing approach that keeps customers engaged from one end of the funnel to the other. Okendo’s customer marketing platform helps brands create personalized interactions at every stage, leading to stronger customer relationships and repeat business.

The 5 Stages of an Ecommerce Conversion Funnel

As customers progress through the buying process, they typically follow five stages: awareness, interest, consideration, intent, and conversion. Each of these stages plays a unique role in their journey and offers opportunities for brands to engage with their audience and guide them toward making a purchase. The sections below will take a closer look at each stage and provide tips to make the most of each.

1. The Awareness Stage

The customer journey begins with the awareness stage, where potential buyers first come across a brand—whether through ads, social media, search engines, or word of mouth. At this stage, it’s essential for brands to make their products easy to find across multiple channels. 

One key strategy is to optimize your product pages with relevant keywords and descriptions to improve search rankings. Building an email list and creating valuable blog (or other creative) content are also effective strategies to keep the brand top of mind for potential customers, and positioning their product as the solution to meet customers’ needs.

Tips For Optimizing The Awareness Stage

• Optimize SEO: Improve search rankings for relevant terms.
• Run Targeted Ads: Use paid ads to reach new audiences.
• Create Shareable Content: Encourage social sharing with engaging posts.
• Engage on Social Media: Actively participate to build brand awareness.

2. The Interest Stage

After becoming aware of a product, leads (potential customers) enter the interest stage. At this point, engaging content like blog posts, social media updates, and videos aid brands in maintaining their potential customers’ interest, while content that provides helpful insights or solutions can encourage those same leads to consider the product more seriously. 

Quizzes and Surveys—products offered by Okendo—are especially useful in this stage. They help to personalize the shopping experience as brands gain a deeper understanding of their customers’ preferences allowing them to adjust their messaging as needed.

Retargeting ads also play an important role here, serving as reminders for customers who have shown interest but haven’t yet made a purchase. By strategically displaying these ads across platforms, brands can keep their products in front of potential buyers, and increase the chances of conversion.

Tips for Optimizing The Interest Stage

• Personalize Offers: Provide strategic recommendations and offers based on user behavior.
• Use Engaging Content: Provide detailed product information, videos, and demos.
• Offer Free Trials/Discounts: Encourage potential buyers with limited-time offers.
• Showcase Social Proof: Highlight reviews and testimonials to build trust.
• Implement Email Nurturing: Send targeted emails to keep prospects engaged.

3. The Consideration Stage

In the consideration stage, potential customers are evaluating whether a product is right for them. Social proof—like reviews, testimonials, and referrals—is helpful here. Positive feedback from others builds trust and helps customers feel more confident about their decisions.

With Okendo Reviews, you can leverage customer feedback through media grids and review carousels that showcase detailed reviews and imagery to build trust in your brand. Okendo’s platform enables shop owners to display authentic testimonials and ratings, making it easy for potential buyers to see how others have had positive experiences. These features help answer any questions or concerns a customer might have, ultimately helping them along in their purchase journey.

Tips for Optimizing the Consideration Stage

• Highlight Unique Value: Emphasize product benefits and differentiate from competitors.
• Offer Comparisons: Provide side-by-side product comparisons to help guide decision-making.
• Use Retargeting Ads: Remind visitors of products they viewed to reignite interest.
• Provide Detailed Reviews: Showcase in-depth customer feedback and testimonials.
• Create Clear CTAs: Use strong, action-driven calls-to-action to prompt next steps.

4. The Intent Stage

In the intent stage, potential customers are close to making a purchase but need assurance that the process will be simple and secure. A high-quality UI/UX with clean, intuitive design and fast load times helps create a smooth buying experience that makes it easy for customers to complete their purchases. A well-structured site should be simple to navigate, with a clear path guiding customers to checkout.

Here it’s important to ensure you have reviews program optimized for speed so it does not slow down your site. 

Developing high-quality product detail pages is also critically important at this stage. Effective PDPSs focus on strong calls-to-action, concise copy, and visually engaging layouts that highlight the product’s value. Features like money-back guarantees, clear return policies, and secure payment options also build customer confidence and encourage potential buyers to complete their purchases.

Tips for Optimizing the Intent Stage

• Offer Discounts/Incentives: Provide exclusive deals to motivate action.
• Simplify Checkout: Keep the checkout process simple and easy. 
• Create Urgency: Use countdowns or low-stock alerts to encourage quick decisions.
• Leverage Cart Abandon Cart Emails: Remind customers of items left in their shopping cart with personalized messages.
• Provide Payment Flexibility: Offer multiple payment options, including installments, to make the purchase easier.

5. The Conversion Stage

In the conversion stage, customers are ready to make a purchase, and small details can make a big difference in seeing them cross the finish line. One effective way to optimize conversion rates is through cart abandonment emails, which remind customers of items left in their cart and offer incentives, such as a discount or free shipping, to encourage them to complete the transaction.

Streamlining the checkout process is equally important. A fast, simple checkout with minimal steps, guest checkout options, and multiple payment methods helps create a smooth experience, making it easier for customers to go through with their purchases. 

Tips for Optimizing the Conversion Stage

• Streamline Payment Process: Make checkout quick and secure with as few steps as possible.
• Provide Order Confirmation: Instantly confirm orders with clear details and next steps.
• Offer Post-Purchase Support: Highlight customer service availability and return policies.
• Upsell/Bundle: Suggest complementary products to increase cart value before checkout.
• Optimize Mobile Experience: Make sure checkout is simple and easy to use on mobile devices. 

Post-Conversion Marketing Funnel Stages

Once your customer makes a purchase, the focus shifts to retaining them and turning them into loyal advocates. These post-conversion stages help build long-term relationships, eventually encouraging referrals. Retention strategies keep your customers engaged with your brand, while advocacy programs turn satisfied customers into your brand promoters.

Retention and advocacy play a vital role in creating loyal customers and attracting new business. Tracking customer retention rates and monitoring advocacy efforts like referral sign-ups can help measure the effectiveness of these strategies.

The Retention Stage

Customer retention is critical for building lasting relationships and maximizing the lifetime value of each customer. One effective strategy is through loyalty programs that reward customers with discounts, exclusive offers, or other incentives that keep them connected and encourage repeat purchases. 

Additionally, post-purchase support keeps customers engaged. Clear return policies, excellent customer service, and follow-up surveys not only create a positive user experience but also show customers that their feedback matters. Tools like Okendo Loyalty, for instance, reward customers for their ongoing support, while Okendo Surveys allow for personalized follow-up questions that further strengthen the buyer’s connection and address specific concerns and gather customer preferences as needed. Together, these efforts create a positive, personalized experience that encourages customers to return over the long term. 

The Advocacy Phase

The advocacy phase starts when satisfied customers begin promoting a brand to others, attracting new potential customers through their genuine recommendations. This form of word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective ways to bring in new buyers, as people are more likely to trust recommendations from others. 

Several strategies can encourage customer advocacy. Referral programs, for instance, reward customers for recommending the brand to others, providing an incentive for word-of-mouth marketing. Customer testimonials and user-generated content, like reviews or social media posts, provide valuable social proof to influence new buyers. 

Requesting reviews after a purchase is another effective way to gather authentic feedback, further strengthening credibility and building trust. With Okendo, brands can easily collect and showcase reviews, referrals, and user-generated content, turning satisfied customers into powerful advocates.

Best Practices for Building an Ecommerce Marketing Funnel

Building an effective ecommerce marketing funnel takes strategic planning that aligns with typical customer behavior and specific brand goals. To guide customers from discovery to purchase, it’s important to target the right audience, set clear goals for each stage, provide valuable content, and consistently improve the funnel. These strategies help keep customers engaged and lead to more conversions and long-term customer relationships.

Using the right tools is also key to tracking and refining each stage of the ecommerce funnel. Various analytic platforms, for example, monitor traffic and engagement, while Okendo gathers valuable customer feedback that enables brands to adjust their messaging to better meet customer needs.

Adam Sharon-Zipser, Managing Director at Elephant Room, says, “Investing in top-of-funnel activities is essential for expanding reach, attracting new audiences, and boosting on-site engagement. Brands that capitalize on non-sale periods and BAU moments can build stronger audience foundations, allowing them to make a bigger impact during key retail events like product launches or promotions.” 

Research and Target The Right Audience

Building an effective ecommerce conversion funnel starts with a solid understanding of the target audience. By researching customer demographics, behaviors, and preferences, brands can customize each stage to reach the right people. Focusing on the right audience at the right time helps create relevant messages that draw potential buyers in and keep them interested from the start. This step sets the stage for a more effective customer journey.

Set KPIs for Each Funnel Stage

Set clear KPIs at each stage of the funnel to help you track what’s working and where there’s room for improvement. Metrics like traffic, engagement, conversion rates, and customer retention provide a clear view of each part of the funnel’s performance. With these goals in place, brands can make simple adjustments to keep customers moving forward and improve results over time.

Create Value-Driven Content

Content that speaks to customers’ needs at every stage is key to keeping them interested. From blog posts and product comparisons to targeted ads, each piece should match where customers are in their journey. Whether sparking initial interest or helping with a final decision, engaging content gives customers a reason to stay connected and eventually move closer to making a purchase.

Constantly Optimize Each Stage

Regularly optimize each stage of your funnel to keep it effective over time. Reviewing data, testing new approaches, and adjusting messaging helps brands respond to what customers are looking for. These updates keep the funnel relevant and focused, helping more customers complete their journey.

Creating a Top Ecommerce Marketing Funnel with Okendo

Okendo is a platform designed to help ecommerce brands build stronger connections with their customers and improve the overall shopping experience. With Reviews, Quizzes, Surveys, Referrals, and Loyalty programs, Okendo supports your brand at every stage of the customer journey—from the initial consideration phase through to loyalty and advocacy.

In the consideration stage, Okendo’s Reviews system provides real social proof that builds trust and helps new customers feel confident in their purchasing decisions. For customer retention, Okendo’s Loyalty program encourages repeat purchases by rewarding returning customers and building long-term relationships. 

Additionally, Okendo Surveys help brands better understand customer preferences, allowing them to meet their customers’ needs more effectively, personalize marketing campaigns, and improve the overall shopping experience. By integrating these features, Okendo enables brands to strengthen their entire funnel—from awareness to loyalty and advocacy—creating lasting customer relationships and increasing sales.

Conclusion

Building a successful ecommerce marketing funnel means understanding how to guide customers through each stage, from awareness to advocacy. By focusing on what customers need at each point, brands can attract, engage, and retain more buyers over time. Using tools like SEO, helpful content, reviews, and loyalty programs, brands can build stronger customer relationships and increase conversions.

Okendo offers valuable products to support every stage of the funnel, from gathering customer feedback to encouraging repeat purchases. When brands put effort into each phase of the funnel and stay consistent with their strategies, they create a solid foundation for long-term growth and customer loyalty.

FAQs

What are the 5 stages of an ecommerce marketing funnel?

The five stages of an ecommerce marketing funnel include:

1. Awareness – Attracting potential customers and making them aware of a brand or products through marketing efforts like ads, SEO, and social media.
2. Interest – Engaging potential customers by providing valuable content or offers that spark their interest, such as blog posts, emails, or product descriptions.
3. Consideration – Convincing potential buyers to evaluate a brand’s products more closely, often through customer reviews, comparisons, or personalized content.
4. Conversion – Encouraging the customer to make a purchase through clear calls-to-action, incentives, or streamlined checkout processes.
5. Retention – Maintaining customer relationships and driving repeat purchases with loyalty programs, email marketing, and personalized recommendations.

How do you build an ecommerce marketing funnel?

To build an ecommerce marketing funnel, start by creating awareness through strategies like ads and content marketing. Then, move potential customers further along by offering personalized product information and deals to encourage them to consider your brand. Finally, focus on conversions with clear calls-to-action and follow up with retention efforts, such as loyalty programs and email campaigns.

What tools do you need to build an ecommerce marketing funnel?

To build an ecommerce marketing funnel, you’ll need tools to manage customer relationships (CRM), automate emails and campaigns, and track performance with analytics. Social media management tools, customer review platforms, and loyalty programs can help keep customers engaged. Integrating everything with platforms like Okendo makes it easier to manage your funnel from one place.

What is the difference between a conversion funnel and a marketing funnel?

A marketing funnel covers the entire journey, from getting a customer’s attention to turning them into repeat buyers, or Superfans. A conversion funnel focuses specifically on the steps a customer takes to complete an action, like making a purchase, with the goal of making each step as smooth as possible to increase the chances of conversion. In short, a conversion funnel is a more focused part of the overall marketing funnel.