Received:
2025-10-15 | Accepted:
2026-01-07 | Published:
2026-03-30
Title
Manufacturer-user collaborative innovation via e-commerce platforms
Abstract
This study examines how e-commerce ecosystems reconfigure manufacturer-user (MU) collaborative innovation networks, drawing on evidence from China's fashion and apparel industry. Through a qualitative multi-case analysis of two platform-mediated collaborations—modular knitwear co-creation and sustainable denim development—we identify that e-commerce platforms act as proactive architects of innovation. They enable role fluidity among problem setters, solvers, and reviewers; facilitate hybridisation of collaboration modes (e.g., resource transfer with strategic alliances); and institutionalise digital, knowledge, and organisational mechanisms that reduce information asymmetry and accelerate iteration. The paper presents an integrated framework that bridges service-dominant logic, user innovation theory, and platform ecosystem perspectives, providing practical insights for managers and platform designers on structuring effective, trust-based co-innovation in digital environments.
Keywords
manufacturer-user collaborative innovation, e-commerce ecosystems, fashion industry, platform intermediation, value co-creation
JEL classifications
O31
URI
http://jssidoi.org/jesi/article/1406
DOI
Pages
279-298
Funding
This study acknowledges the support from the Zhejiang Provincial Philosophy and Social Sciences Fund Project (Project No. 25SSHZ110YB), and it is presented as a phased research outcome of this project.
This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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