The dream of entrepreneurship online continues to motivate thousands of Brazilians in search of financial independence. But the reality of e-commerce demands more than good intentions. A survey by Loja Integrada, one of the largest e-commerce platforms in the country, reveals that the biggest difficulty is not in technology, but in the journey of those trying to sell online without prior knowledge, strategy, or support.
The survey analyzed the behavior of 505 active platform merchants and gathered over 1,150 responses from 45 questions applied to beginner entrepreneurs. The data, cross-referenced with internal indicators, covers the period from January to April 2025. The analysis shows that 61% of retailers start without knowing what they will sell and 33% expect immediate returns, even without 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 retailers are able to make sales in the first month. In April 2025, for example, out of the 7,800 stores created, only 123 recorded at least one sale. These data, however, are not related to platform performance, but rather to the structural difficulty faced by entrepreneurs who start without guidance, strategy, or clarity about the business model. This reality is not exclusive to Brazil: a study cited by Huffington Post and Marketing Signals shows that 90% of e-commerce businesses worldwide close within 120 days after launch, mainly due to lack of preparation and strategic positioning.
ToLucas Bacic, CEO of Loja IntegradaPeople arrive at the platform motivated by a dream, the dream of having their own business, but they encounter technical and emotional barriers right at the first steps. "Without guidance, many shop owners get lost in their first decisions and give up before even properly activating the store or making their first sale," he states.
Why don't the stores sell?
Among the main obstacles faced by those starting in e-commerce are product promotion (40.2%), store structuring (32.5%), pricing (16%), and technical setup (7.3%). Despite the interest in learning, most shop owners 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. The data reveals a gap between the amount of available information and the actual ability to apply that knowledge in practice.
The portrait is of a beginner audience, emotionally motivated, but who still enter e-commerce without clarity about what to sell, without operational structure, and with somewhat unrealistic expectations about the results. This misalignment between expectation and preparation helps explain the high dropout rate in the first few months.
"Our goal is to provide smarter support from the beginning of the journey so that the entrepreneur can focus on what only they can do. Create, sell, and serve," says Bacic.
Currently, Loja Integrada has a total of 2.7 million stores created in Brazil, but only 24,000 are active. The die reinforces the size of the challenge of keeping the digital business operating consistently and sustainably over time.
