Term · Marketing & analytics
Sales funnel
A sales funnel describes the stages people pass through on the way to becoming customers, and how their number shrinks at each stage — like a funnel, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom.
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Explained
A typical funnel
For an online store:
- Visitors to the site.
- Product page views.
- Add to cart.
- Begin checkout.
- Purchase.
For a service business:
- Visitors.
- Enquiries (forms, calls, messages).
- Qualified leads.
- Proposals or meetings.
- Contracts.
Measuring it
For each stage, count how many people reach it and calculate the conversion rate to the next. The stage with the biggest drop is usually where improvement pays off most. Website stages come from analytics; later stages from the CRM. Combining them is the basis of end-to-end analytics.
Using the funnel
- Diagnose: many product views but few add-to-carts suggests a price, photo or information problem; many carts but few purchases points to checkout. See checkout optimisation.
- Plan: work back from sales targets to the traffic and leads needed.
- Compare channels: some bring many visitors who rarely convert; others fewer but better ones.
Beyond the linear funnel
Real journeys loop: people leave, return from another channel, ask in WhatsApp, visit a store. The funnel is a simplification — useful, but read it alongside attribution and customer feedback.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How many stages should a funnel have?
Enough to show where people drop off; usually four to six key stages.
Can one business have several funnels?
Yes — for different products, channels or customer types.