Análise dos obstáculos às compras online: o caso do Rio de Janeiro

The objective of this study is to identify the possible barriers encountered in e-commerce in the city of Rio de Janeiro. For this purpose, quantitative research was developed based on an online questionnaire supported by the literature review that indicated as main categories of barriers those inherent to the consumer, the channel, and the context of the purchase. The application of the online questionnaire resulted in 302 valid answers. The results indicate that Internet access and channel-related factors, namely perceived risk, continue to determine the propensity to shop online. On the other hand, neither depersonalization nor the difficulty of access to physical stores seems to be determinant for the choice of online shopping. Overall, the study shows that despite the importance of the internet in the current retail environment and the fact that it significantly minimizes the distance between consumers and sellers, there are still different factors that persist in acting as barriers and influence consumers' willingness to use the online channel. These findings are relevant, especially in the Covid19 pandemic context, in assisting firms to develop strategies to cope with these obstacles.