Every visit has an acquisition cost, in advertising or in SEO. On most sites, the majority of that traffic leaves without buying anything or leaving contact details. In online retail, the cart abandonment rate sits around 70% according to the Baymard Institute, and a large part of that lost revenue comes from friction that can be repaired rather than from a lack of interest.
Conversion rate optimization corrects that lost revenue. Rather than going after more traffic, we convert the traffic you already have better, to grow net margin.
70%of carts abandoned in online retail. Friction, rather than a lack of interest, explains a good part of it.
35%conversion gain possible on an average site through checkout improvements alone.
Source: Baymard Institute