Why 95% of E-commerce Websites in India Fail to Convert
Discover common reasons behind 95% of Indian E-commerce websites failing to convert visitors into sales, with expert insights from Cpluz to boost your online store's performance.
4 min readCpluz
91% of E-commerce Websites in India Fail to Convert: Understanding the Reasons Behind
E-commerce has grown dramatically over the past few years in India. With over 500 million+ netizens, the potential customer base is sky-high, but ironically, the conversion rate is alarmingly low for a significant proportion of e-commerce websites. E-commerce conversion rate in India averages around 2-5% and for new entrants, it may drop down to 1-2%. Further, the lack of effective design can dilute consumer trust and ultimately contributes to the inability to convert sales.
Major Reasons Behind Low Conversion Rate in E-commerce Websites
The industry's supposedly low conversion rates present challenges for established as well as budding e-commerce platforms in India. On analyzing the overall situation, several critical factors reveal their impact on a website's primary objective - driving sales.
1. User Experience (UX) and Design Neglect
The primary step to escalate the conversion rate involves ensuring your e-commerce website provides excellent user experience. Inadequate design dilutes consumer trust and, ultimately, affects the conversion rate significantly. Users' expectations from an e-commerce website include easy navigation, minimal loading time, compelling visual content, and intuitive search functions. A poorly navigated, slow-loading website disheartens visitors, leaving them with little or no chance of becoming converters.
2. Mobile Optimization
79% of the Indian online population uses mobile devices to browse and shop online (IAMAI). Hence, creating a mobile-responsive website that caters perfectly to smartphone users' needs is imperative. As it facilitates the consumers' smooth experience, it also caters to an extra touchpoint for businesses to get closer to their target audience. And, with services like digital printing and impactful logo designs, enhancing offline-offline unified brand experiences is more achievable than ever before.
3. Unclear and Often Absent Return & Refund Policies
In a society where >80% of customers rely on product reviews and ratings before buying (Source), clear refund policies alleviate concerns. Not only do customers appreciate transparency, but feeling secure in their purchasing decisions also increases their willingness to return or continue shopping. Unclear or vague policies might lead to skepticism, thus affecting conversion rates.
4. Fragmented Content & High Bounce Rate
Content formation is critical for e-commerce sites. While the Internet, the primary content source, emphasizes leveraging graphics, users rely heavily on product descriptions, specifications, benefits, and customer reviews at online stores. Half-baked content puzzles customers, escalating bounce rates while hindering an effortless purchase decision, eventually reflecting on low conversion figures. Essential to diminish bounce rates is legitimate product content along with site loading speed.
5. Lack of Social Proof
Taking references from friends, family, social media influencers and buying from e-stores of celebrity preferences, nearly two-thirds of Indian consumers make informed purchasing decisions. Even though positive reviews and word-of-mouth marketing build trust, business owners should spread their brand reach on multiple channels of social media, ensure vibrant website collaborations are optimized along with the core e-commerce website.
6.Absence or Over-Complication of CTAs
A Simple Call-To-Action (CTA) leaves no scope for confusion and propels an opportunity for seamless user progression towards checkout. A CTA placement ideally involves placing it above the fold prominently as customers tend to lose focus as content travels down the page. Additionally, excessive CTAs can deceive visitors or add to the site's overall cognitive load. Design your CTAs with thought, incorporating interactive components can invite clicks & empower consumer experience.
7. Payment Process Efficiency
A smooth checkout process, without unnecessary complications or redirects, increases the chances of pulling users through to completion. Internet users in India, particularly those making purchases for the first time might experience hesitation & might abandon carts due to vicious factors like excessive information input fields, high payment fees, lack of promo discounts or noatism of logistics details at checkout stage.
Conclusion
Worrying statistic and stressing issue, low conversion rates for e-commerce companies in India can only diminish upon addressing factors impacting it. Cpluz, a renowned digital marketing, graphic, and web design company provides holistic solutions to assist in inspiring design practices of e-commerce sites rooted in overall India, ensuring user-centric UX, compliance with industry requirements, and a blend of evocative digital content to build customer trust through creative, combined solutions, removing roadblocks and converting prospects into happy consumers.
Contact Cpluz at info@cpluz.com or visit cpluz.com for professional design and hosting solutions.