The dream of online entrepreneurship continues to drive thousands of Brazilians in search of financial autonomy. But the reality of e-commerce demands more than good intentions. A survey by Loja Integrada, one of the country’s largest e-commerce platforms, reveals that the biggest challenge is not technology, but rather the journey of those trying to sell online without prior knowledge, strategy, or support.
The study analyzed the behavior of 505 active merchants on the platform and gathered over 1,150 responses from 45 questions posed to beginner entrepreneurs. The data, cross-referenced with internal metrics, covers the period from January to April 2025. The analysis shows that 61% of merchants start without knowing what to sell, and 33% expect immediate returns, even with no prior experience or minimal operational structure.
Despite the significant growth in the number of stores opened, the study reveals that only a small portion of merchants manage to make sales in their first month. In April 2025, for example, out of 7,800 stores created, only 123 recorded at least one sale. However, these figures are not related to the platform’s performance but rather to the structural difficulties faced by entrepreneurs who start without guidance, strategy, or clarity about their business model. This reality is not unique to Brazil: a study cited by Huffington Post and Marketing Signals shows that 90% of e-commerce businesses worldwide shut down within 120 days of launch, primarily due to lack of preparation and strategic positioning.
For Lucas Bacic, CEO of Loja Integrada, people come to the platform motivated by a dream—the dream of their own business—but hit technical and emotional barriers from the very first steps. ‘Without guidance, many merchants get lost in early decisions and give up before even activating the store correctly or making their first sale,’ he says.
Why don’t stores sell?
Among the main obstacles faced by beginners in e-commerce are product promotion (40.2%), store setup (32.5%), pricing (16%), and technical configuration (7.3%). Despite their interest in learning, most merchants still rely on free and easily accessible content, such as social media (49.7%), online videos (22.4%), and Google searches (18.6%), while only 1.9% invest in paid courses. This reveals a gap between the volume of available information and the real ability to apply this knowledge in practice.
The portrait is of a beginner audience, emotionally motivated but still entering e-commerce without clarity on what to sell, without an operational structure, and with unrealistic expectations about results. This misalignment between expectations and preparedness helps explain the high dropout rate in the first few months.
‘Our goal is to provide smarter support from the very start of the journey, so entrepreneurs can focus on what only they can do: create, sell, and serve,’ says Bacic.
Currently, Loja Integrada has already reached 2.7 million stores created in Brazil, but only 24,000 are active. This underscores the scale of the challenge in keeping the digital business running consistently and sustainably over time.
