Most Egyptian brands don’t have a “website” problem.
They have a mentality problem, a deep-rooted belief that a website is something you create once, tick off the website checklist, and forget about for five years.
Somewhere in the journey of digital transformation, the website became a glossy PDF.
A place to display products.
A place to “look professional.”
A place to dump content like a storage room and hope someone buys.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Catalogs don’t convert. Catalogs don’t generate revenue. Catalogs don’t scale.
Websites that are built like catalogs behave like catalogs, flat, passive, and useless under pressure.
A website should be your top salesperson, your most efficient revenue generator, your always-on conversion engine.
Yet, most ecommerce brands in Egypt still treat it as a decorative accessory.
And when your mindset treats the website as decoration, your conversions stay decorative too.
Let’s break down what’s really happening, and why this thinking is holding brands back.
1. The “We Just Need Something Online” Mentality Is Everywhere
You’ve definitely heard this before:
“We need a website just so people can find us.”
“Just show our products and specs.”
“People can call or WhatsApp if they want something.”
“A simple one is enough.”
“Let’s launch fast, details later.”
This mindset kills websites before they even launch.
Because when the end goal is simply to exist, the output becomes exactly that:
A website that exists but does not perform.
Egyptian brands still think of websites as digital placeholders, not digital engines.
The surprising part?
These same brands invest heavily in social media, media buying, influencers, and content… and then send all that traffic to a website completely unprepared to convert it.
A website may be designed to look nice, but if it isn’t built with the intention to sell, it will never do more than sit there.
2. Catalog Websites Are Built for Browsing, Not Buying
A catalog website has one job:
Display information.
That’s why most of these websites feel the same:
Basic.
Static.
Zero strategy.
Zero funnel.
Zero user psychology.
Zero revenue logic.
They are visually fine, but operationally dead.
On a catalog-style website:
Users browse.
Users scroll.
Users see information.
Users get bored.
Users leave.
Nothing in the experience pushes them toward a decision.
Now compare that to a sales engine website, the type we build at MitchDesigns.
Here:
Every headline is intentional.
Every section moves the user closer to conversion.
Every CTA is strategically placed.
Every friction point is eliminated.
Every page is optimized around revenue.
Every scroll works harder than the previous one.
This isn’t design for the sake of design.
This is design for action.
A catalog informs.
A sales engine converts.
And in 2025, conversion is oxygen.
3. Egyptian Brands Still Think Sales Happen on Instagram, Not Websites
This is one of the biggest lies in the market.
Everyone says:
“People buy directly on social media.”
But here’s what actually happens in Egypt:
A user sees your paid ad.
A user clicks to check more.
A user lands on your website.
The website is slow, unclear, or overwhelming.
The user goes back to Instagram.
The same user later buys from a competitor with a better checkout.
This happens every single day.
It’s not your social media strategy that’s failing.
It’s not your media buying.
It’s not your product.
It’s your website that’s blocking your revenue.
Egyptian brands underestimate how fragile the buying journey is.
One second of confusion, two seconds of slow loading, one badly placed button, that’s all it takes to lose the sale.
In digital, users reward clarity and punish friction.
If your website can’t support your paid traffic, paid traffic becomes a liability.
4. Agencies in Egypt Still Build for Launch Day
Let’s address another root cause.
Many web design agencies in Egypt proudly deliver websites that:
Look perfect on a MacBook
Impress the board in a presentation
Launch fast
Look good on Behance
Check the “deliverables” box
But here’s what they don’t build:
Scalability
CRO foundations
Smart architecture
Load optimization
Data flows
Long-term growth pathways
The website is made to shine on day one, but collapse on day 90.
Because the agency was focused on launch, not longevity.
It’s easier to sell design than to build revenue infrastructure.
It’s faster to assemble templates than to architect user journeys.
It’s cheaper to skip CRO than to implement it.
But the cost of skipping these things hits you later, in the form of abandoned carts, broken funnels, low conversions, and weak traffic retention.
You don’t build a business on short-term design.
You build it on long-term performance.
5. Egyptian Brands Still Ignore the Role of Technology in Revenue
This is where things get even more serious.
Many business owners still think:
“Why would we use Laravel or React? Just make the website look good.”
Because your tech stack defines your revenue ceiling.
A website built on:
outdated templates
unstable plug-ins
slow systems
cheap hosting
no caching
no architecture
no backend logic
…will always break the moment real users show up.
There’s a reason we build high-performing ecommerce platforms with Laravel + React:
They are fast.
They are stable.
They scale with traffic.
They allow custom business logic.
They don’t crack under load.
They support advanced integrations.
They optimize the checkout experience.
Templates may save money in month one.
But they burn money every month after that.
6. The Modern Buyer Wants a Journey, Not a Digital Shelf
Let’s talk about user psychology.
People don’t buy because you have products.
People buy because they:
Understand your value
Trust you
Feel guided
Find the journey easy
Feel the experience is smooth
A catalog-style website doesn’t provide any of that.
It shows products.
It shows specs.
It shows images.
And that’s it.
There’s no story.
No persuasion.
No clarity.
No intentionality.
No guidance.
The user is left to figure things out alone, and confused users don’t buy.
A modern, revenue-focused website builds a clear path:
Awareness → Understanding → Trust → Action → Purchase → Retention
If your website doesn’t support that journey, your customer won’t either.
7. A Non-Converting Website Is the Most Expensive Asset You Own
Think about the amount of effort you put into bringing traffic to your digital presence:
Media buying
Content creation
Influencers
SEO
Offline campaigns
Social media consistency
Email marketing
Partnerships
All of this energy, thousands of decisions, hours, and budgets, ends up in one location:
Your website.
If that website is weak, everything collapses.
Your paid ads become more expensive.
Your campaigns underperform.
Your brand loses credibility.
Your competitors get stronger.
Your conversions stay flat.
A website is not a checkbox.
It’s not a brand accessory.
It’s not a digital shelf.
It’s your central revenue engine, and when built right, it becomes your highest-performing employee.
Final Thought
Egyptian brands don’t need more awareness.
They don’t need more traffic.
They don’t need more campaigns.
They need better conversions.
Because the winner in 2025 is not the brand with the most followers.
it’s the brand with the most optimized website.
Your website is not a catalog.
It’s a sales engine.
And it’s time to treat it like one.
FAQs
1. Why do Egyptian brands still build catalog-style websites?
Because the market still prioritizes visibility over revenue. Brands aim to “be online,” not to convert users into customers.
2. What makes a website a sales engine?
Revenue-focused UX, fast performance, CRO strategy, smart navigation, optimized product pages, and a powerful tech stack like Laravel + React.
3. Why do Egyptian websites fail after running ads?
Catalog-style websites cannot handle high-intent traffic. Slow pages, unclear UX, and weak funnels destroy conversion potential.
4. How can brands improve their website conversions?
By redesigning their website around user psychology, optimizing speed, removing friction, A/B testing, improving mobile experience, and building proper funnels.
5. Does the tech stack really affect revenue?
Yes. Poor tech leads to slow load times, failed integrations, checkout drop-offs, and low scalability, all of which directly hurt revenue.
