Article
Version 1
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Sustainable E-commerce: Blockchain and Channel Structure in Online Retail Platforms
Version 1
: Received: 29 June 2024 / Approved: 2 July 2024 / Online: 2 July 2024 (05:27:17 CEST)
How to cite: Wu, X.; Jiang, W.; Meng, L. Sustainable E-commerce: Blockchain and Channel Structure in Online Retail Platforms. Preprints 2024, 2024070181. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0181.v1 Wu, X.; Jiang, W.; Meng, L. Sustainable E-commerce: Blockchain and Channel Structure in Online Retail Platforms. Preprints 2024, 2024070181. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0181.v1
Abstract
With the burgeoning growth of online retail, the issue of counterfeit products has become a significant threat to both consumer trust and brand integrity, posing challenges to sustainable market practices. Online retail platforms are promoted to redesign their channel structures and enhance brand traceability to tackle counterfeits using blockchain technology. To investigate the interactions between blockchain technology and the channel structures of online retail platforms, we design a game theory model incorporating a manufacturer with(out) blockchain participation selling products via an online retail platform that operates an agency channel and/or a reselling channel. We show that the critical trade-off of blockchain participation comprises the brand assurance effect of the blockchain, the channel competition intensification effect, and the blockchain adoption cost. The platform is capable of strategically designing the channel structure to encourage (while discouraging) blockchain participation by the manufacturer. Our analysis highlights the complementarity between blockchain participation and the channel structure. Furthermore, the effect of the consumer’s belief in the reselling channel, the commission fee in the agency channel, and the substitutability between channels are investigated in depth. The research provides valuable insights for online retail platforms and policymakers seeking to foster a sustainable and trustworthy e-commerce ecosystem.
Keywords
sustainable E-commerce; blockchain technology; channel structure; online retail platform; counterfeit mitigation
Subject
Business, Economics and Management, Business and Management
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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