Background: The remarkable proliferation and utilisation of information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as the Internet, has enabled businesses and customers to transact
online seamlessly. Increasingly, studies have started paying attention to online shopping. However, there are limited studies with an online grocery shopping (OGS) perspective in developing nations.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the factors influencing consumers’ behavioural intention to adopt OGS in the Cape Metropolitan area of South Africa.

Method: This study employed quantitative research methods within a positivist research paradigm. It then utilised convenience sampling techniques to collect data (n = 391) in shopping malls in the Cape Metropolitan area using self-administered questionnaires pre-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.

Results: The results showed that only perceived cost (PCo) had a significant influence on consumers’ behavioural intention to adopt OGS, while perceived usefulness (PU), visibility (VIS), perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived image barrier (PIB), perceived risk (PR) and social attractiveness (SAT) had an indirect influence on consumers’ behavioural intention to
adopt OGS.

Conclusion: In this study, PCo was found to influence consumers’ behavioural intention to adopt OGS significantly. However, other factors such as PEOU, PU, PR, PIB and SAT indirectly influenced consumers’ intention to shop for groceries online.

Contribution: As there are limited studies on OGS from a developing nation’s perspective, this study makes a theoretical contribution by focusing on the pre-COVID-19 OGS in South
Africa. Moreover, the results of this study can help to draw a comparison between the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic shopping experiences of customers, which is important to
understand the effects of the pandemic on consumer behaviour.