Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in promoting the national economy and providing employment opportunities. E-commerce platforms may facilitate transactions between these enterprises. However, transactions on the e-commerce platform are non-face-to-face, strongly virtual, and variable, resulting in SMEs often facing moral hazards and opportunistic behaviors. Blockchain is a distributed ledger consisting of an encryption algorithm, consensus mechanism, and smart contracts, having the characteristics of authenticity, security, transparency, and unforgeability. Thus, the problems faced by SMEs can be resolved by combining e-commerce platforms and blockchain technology. In this study, we first provide a conceptual framework for blockchain-supported e-commerce platforms for SMEs. Second, based on this conceptual framework, we build a total business architecture. Finally, we propose three key applications to illustrate how the platform facilitates SMEs in solving financing and trading problems. This study provides significant guidance for the operation and management of blockchain-supported e-commerce platforms for these enterprises.

As a disruptive tool, blockchain technology can eradicate the product-counterfeiting problem in supply chains. However, a blockchain-supported platform charges an operating fee to legitimate manufacturers and retailers for product traceability and authentication. In this study, we employ enterprise profit-driven analytical models using Stackelberg equilibrium theory and highlight the values of blockchain-supported e-commerce platforms in addressing the product-counterfeiting problem. To measure the actual benefits of blockchain technology, we compare the profits of all agents in two different supply chains, traditional and blockchain-supported. Results show that the application of blockchain technology is not always beneficial to manufacturers, retailers, and customers. However, when the manufacturing cost of a legitimate manufacturer is sufficiently high, the manufacturer generates more profits using blockchain technology. Further, for a price-sensitive market, a retailer tends to trade in a blockchain-supported e-commerce platform if the retailer’s qualification in the platform is lower than that in a traditional supply chain, and the manufacturing cost of the counterfeit manufacturer in the platform is higher than that in a traditional supply chain.

No abstract