Funnel analysis

A funnel is a sequence of steps. Funnel analysis shows drop-off at each step. The biggest leak is your biggest opportunity.

Building a funnel

Map the steps: visit → view product → add cart → checkout → purchase. Measure at each.

Interpretation

• Largest % drop = biggest opportunity
• Compare segments (new vs returning, mobile vs desktop)
• Track over time for trends

Actions

Fix the biggest leak first. Moves the needle more than any other single CRO work.

What to do with this

• Compute traffic × drop-off per step, fixing a 20% drop on 50K visits beats fixing 50% on 500 visits
• Segment the funnel by source + device, mobile checkout usually has 2-3x more leakage than desktop
• Fix the biggest leak first, shoring up small leaks while the primary is broken produces no measurable lift
• Review funnel performance weekly during active CRO cycles, weekly drift is often fixable before it compounds
• Document each leak's hypothesis + fix, compounding funnel knowledge is what separates 6-month operators from 2-month ones