Funnel

The sequence of steps users take towards a goal — visit, product page, basket, checkout, payment — with the share that reaches each step.

Formulastep rate = reached step n ÷ reached step n−1

How we work it through

1
Fix the unit (visit or person) for every step.
2
Measure all steps over the same period.
3
Find the step that changed before explaining the total.

On the practice dataset

The query we run on Meridian, Atterna’s practice marketplace, and what it returns.

SELECT COUNT(*) AS visits,
  COUNT(*) FILTER (WHERE added_to_cart) AS cart,
  COUNT(*) FILTER (WHERE reached_checkout) AS checkout,
  (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM meridian.visit_orders) AS orders
FROM meridian.visits;

Result195,013 visits → 18,637 carts (9.6%) → 8,725 checkouts → 8,164 orders (4.2% of visits)

The common trap

Mixing people and sessions between steps, or comparing steps measured over different periods.

When an AI answers

An AI assistant

“Conversion fell at the weekend — people must dislike the new checkout.”

What it didn’t know: It only saw orders, not payment attempts: on the last Sunday 92 of 271 attempts failed, many with PAY_SDK_TIMEOUT.
Ask back: “Which step dropped? Split checkout → payment attempts → successful payments, by error code.”

Paste a real AI answer into the checker — it writes these questions for you →