Network Effect and Competitive Strategy of E-Commerce Multilateral Platform from the Perspective of Evolution

WANG Fa-tao

（Hebei University of Economics and Business，Shijiazhuang，Hebei050061，China）

Abstract：In recent years，the platform-based e-commerce model has become increasingly mature，and the platform-based economy has become the focus of all parties. At present，the platform- based e- commerce enterprises have shown a diversified development trend，and the e- commerce platform has gradually evolved from a single bilateral market to a cross- platform multilateral market. Network effect is one of the basic characteristics of platform- based economies and a key factor affecting corporate competition strategies. The related research on the network effect of the current platform is mostly based on the mathematical analysis of single-platform bilateral market，but there is little literature on the cross-platform network effect about the diversified business model. The marginal contribution of this paper has the following two points：Firstly，based on the crossnetwork externalities of the e- commerce main platform and its affiliated platforms，the author expands the existing two- sided market analysis framework，and builds four types of multilateral market income model which includes joint open platform，selfoperated semi-open platform，logistics e-commerce platform and financial e-commerce platform. The platform pricing and profit under various business models are analyzed. Secondly，through case study，the dynamic evolution path of platform network effect is verified and verified；and the core competitive strategy of enterprises in different evolution stages is summarized. It is found that the cross-network effect will weaken the enterprise's control over the platform，and the implementation of the cross-platform strategy can decentralize the network effect to achieve the internalization of the network effect dividend；the network effect diffusion of the first- stage platform helps the enterprise to cross- border into the relevant industry；A diversified business strategy can give the platform more pricing space. In addition，the e- commerce platform in different evolution stages has different network effects and core strategies. The platform in the long- term focus on the number of users，the platform in the mature stage pays attention to the platform quality construction，and the platform in the differentiation stage implements the platform envelopment strategy.

Key words：platform economy；network effect；multilateral market；cross-border integration；platform evolution