According to Shop.org State of Online Retailing 2006 report it’s getting harder and harder to make a sale; the average conversion rate for online retailing was 3.2%, in 2002 and in 2003 it was 2.4% while 2004 it was 2.6%, and last year down to 2.4%.

FutureNow thinks the declining conversion rate is not being helped by technology and branding.

Think about 2002, ages ago in internet years right? Now think about 2005. Today sites are better, better technology. Faster sites. Better usability. Better web analytics. Majors sites have been redesigned since 2002. More users have broadband, and visitors are more comfortable buying online.

So what is going on?   Lot of folks still waiting for their cats to bark. Are you?

I think the problem is more likely due to information overload and having more and more sites competiting for what appears to be declining inventory on the internet (inventory can not grow as fast as the creation of new sites).