Title: Modelling the barriers that are preventing e-commerce to thrive - a case study from Portugal

Authors: Joana Costa Machado; Susana C. Silva; Paulo Duarte; Carla C. Martins; João Alexandre Lobo Marques

Addresses: Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua Diogo Botelho, 1327, 4169-005, Porto, Portugal ' Católica Porto Business School and CEGE, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua Diogo Botelho, 1327, 4169-005, Porto, Portugal ' Universidade da Beira Interior, NECE – Research Centre in Business Sciences, Rua Marquês d'Ávila e Bolama, 6201-001, Covilhã, Portugal ' Católica Porto Business School and CEGE, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua Diogo Botelho, 1327, 4169-005, Porto, Portugal ' Faculty of Business and Law, University of Saint Joseph – USJ, Macau SAR, China

Abstract: The identification of barriers for e-commerce to thrive in specific countries is a topic of great interest. This work proposes two models to study the barriers to B2C e-commerce adoption in Portugal, highlighting obstacles less exploited by previous research: the impact of offline shopping pleasure and the influence of the distance to shopping malls on online shopping intent. An online survey was conducted based on different constructs. A multivariate OLS hierarchical regression was used to analyse the proposed models regarding the intention to buy online and the number of online purchases. The results revealed that customer satisfaction is a strong predictor of intent to buy online and that perceived product risk remains a barrier to e-commerce. Consumers living in highly urbanised areas have more propensity to buy online. Helpful information is provided regarding the impact of context, culture, product, and individual barriers, showing that multichannel strategies are best suited for success.

Keywords: online shopping; e-commerce barriers; retail; Portugal.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2025.148513

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2025 Vol.37 No.1, pp.101 - 127

Received: 23 Jun 2021
Accepted: 25 Sep 2021
Published online: 10 Sep 2025 *

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