Data Analyst in E-commerce: Diagnosing Order Drop
Investigate a sudden drop in e-commerce checkout conversion and identify the root technical issue before leadership cuts the marketing budget.
Context
You are a Data Analyst at an e-commerce platform. Over the past month, total completed orders dropped by 15% despite rising traffic, driving executive leadership to conclude that recent performance marketing campaigns brought in low-quality leads. The Head of Commercial wants to cut digital ad spend by 40% starting tomorrow morning. You have 30 minutes before the leadership review to analyze the funnel data, verify the real driver behind the drop, and present your findings.
Your Task
Present your analysis to the Head of Commercial in exactly three sections:
- Recommendation
- Impact
- Implementation Plan
Available Data
The commercial team presents this high-level summary of the last two months:
| Funnel Stage | September | October | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Sessions | 1,200,000 | 1,350,000 | +12.5% |
| Product Views | 840,000 | 958,500 | +14.1% |
| Add to Cart | 180,000 | 205,200 | +14.0% |
| Checkout Initiations | 96,000 | 108,000 | +12.5% |
| Completed Purchases | 38,400 | 32,400 | -15.6% |
| Overall Conversion Rate (Sessions to Orders) | 3.20% | 2.40% | -0.80% pts |
Leadership notes that because ad spend increased by 15% in October to drive sessions, marketing acquisition is the primary suspect for the conversion drop.