Funnel Drop-Off Analyzer
A funnel is only as strong as its weakest step. Enter the count of users at each stage and see exactly where they leak out — and which single fix would move the most revenue.
A funnel drop-off analysis compares the count at each stage. Step conversion = stage count ÷ previous stage count; drop-off is the rest. Overall conversion = bottom ÷ top. The most useful output is the biggest leak — the step that loses the highest share — because fixing the worst step compounds through every stage below it, where polishing an already-healthy step does not.
Funnel Drop-Off Analyzer inputs and result
How to use this calculator
- Name your funnel stagesLabel up to five stages in the order users move through them — for example Visitors, Product views, Add to cart, Checkout, Purchase. Names make the output readable.
- Enter the count at each stageUse the number of users (or sessions) that reached each stage in the same period. Each stage should be a subset of the one before it.
- Leave unused stages blankOnly using three or four stages? Leave the later counts at zero and the tool drops them automatically.
- Read the stage tableThe analysis builds a table of step conversion, drop-off and users lost at each transition, with the worst step flagged in red.
- Fix the biggest leak firstPrioritise the highlighted leak — it has the most leverage because gains there flow to every stage below. Export the table to brief your team.
RGM Expert Says
When a client says ‘conversion is down’ we never optimise the whole funnel at once — we find the leak. Laying the stages side by side almost always reveals that one transition is doing most of the damage while the others are fine. Optimising in priority order, worst step first, is the difference between a focused sprint that moves the number and a scattershot effort that touches everything and changes nothing.
The reason the worst step matters so much is compounding. Every stage below a leak only ever sees the survivors of that leak, so a fix high in the funnel multiplies through all the steps beneath it. Recovering ten points at add-to-cart is worth far more than ten points at the final confirm button, because the cart fix feeds a larger population into every subsequent stage. We use this tool to make that leverage visible, then size the prize before scoping the work.
The discipline we add is segmenting before believing the funnel. A blended funnel hides that mobile checkout leaks twice as hard as desktop, or that paid-social traffic abandons carts that organic visitors complete. We run the analyzer per device and per source, because the ‘average’ leak is often two different problems wearing one number. Then we pair it with the page-speed and Core Web Vitals tools when the leak smells technical.
How it works
Each transition is measured against the stage immediately before it, so the percentages describe real step behaviour rather than share of the original top. Overall conversion divides the bottom stage by the top, and the biggest leak is simply the transition with the highest drop-off.
- Stage count — users reaching each stage; each is a subset of the one above.
- Step conversion — share of the previous stage that continued.
- Biggest leak — the transition with the highest drop-off; fix this first.
Step conversion compares each stage to the one directly before it, not to the top of the funnel. Multiply the step conversions together and you get the overall rate — which is why a leak high in the funnel costs more than the same leak lower down.
Why the worst step is where the money is
Funnels compound. If three steps each convert at 50%, the overall rate is 12.5%, not 50% — small step losses multiply into a big total loss. That maths is why you should never read funnel health from the overall number alone; you have to see where the multiplication is hurting.
Prioritising the biggest leak is the highest-leverage move in conversion work, because a fix high in the funnel feeds more people into every stage below it. Improving a step that already converts at 90% can only ever recover ten points of that step; improving one that converts at 30% has seventy points of headroom and amplifies through the rest of the journey.
The classic mistake is optimising the visible step instead of the broken one — redesigning the checkout button when the real leak is the product page that never earns the click. Lay the stages side by side first, fix in priority order, and re-measure, so effort follows leverage rather than intuition.
Typical ecommerce funnel drop-off
Rough directional ranges for a retail purchase funnel. Your own numbers depend heavily on traffic quality, price point and device mix — use these only to sense-check, not as targets.
| Transition | Typical step conversion | Where leaks hide |
|---|---|---|
| Visit → product view | 30 – 50% | Weak landing relevance, slow load |
| Product → add to cart | 5 – 15% | Price, trust, unclear value |
| Cart → checkout | 50 – 70% | Surprise shipping, forced account |
| Checkout → purchase | 45 – 65% | Friction, payment options, errors |
What conversion leaders say
Find the leak before you redecorate the room; the step that loses the most people is the only one worth your first sprint.
Don’t optimise the page you like; optimise the step the data says is bleeding.