A Business Ecosystem Approach for E-commerce Service Innovation

At a time when the e-commerce market is experiencing accelerated growth, with advancements in information and communications technology (ICT), the problems of distribution of counterfeit products and consumer confusion caused by non-face-to-face purchases have increased. Hence, amid intensifying competition, it has become important for e-commerce companies deliver product information more efficiently, provide differentiated services, and secure credibility for consumers by reducing consumer damage from buying counterfeit products. However, even though consumer confusion and the inadvertent purchase of counterfeit products are intensifying in such a market scenario, there are no services that aim to solve such problems. This study examines the conventional e-commerce industry in South Korea through a political, economic, social, and technological (PEST) analysis, based on in-depth interviews with consumers, to derive the pain and gain points of the industry. As a result, the inherent problems of the e-commerce industry were revealed. Through a service value network perspective, services aimed at resolving such issues were derived, and the e-commerce business ecosystem needed to solve this problem was deduced. The findings revealed that the artificial intelligence–based service support platform has become a major driving force within the e-commerce innovation ecosystem by enabling a new way to create and secure value using ICT. This entails a new exchange mechanism and transaction architecture and a new organizational structure that breaks the barriers between industries.