Electronic Commerce Research and Applications: Horst Treiblmaier, Christian Sillaber

Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 48 (2021) 101054
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/elerap
The impact of blockchain on e-commerce: A framework for salient

research topics
Horst Treiblmaier a, *, Christian Sillaber b
a
Department of International Management, Modul University Vienna, Am Kahlenberg 1, 1190 Vienna, Austria
b
Department of Private Law, Universität Bern, Schanzeneckstrasse 1, Postfach, 3001 Bern, Austria
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Blockchain-based technologies are predicted as major disruptors for numerous business applications and pro
Blockchain cesses, which bears huge implications for e-commerce. Given the ability of blockchain and related technologies
Distributed Ledger Technology to create so-called “trustless systems” with idiosyncratic properties, various business models and established
E-Commerce
processes that have emerged over the years to ensure trust, reliability and enforceability in business-to-consumer
Research Framework
(B2C), business-to-business (B2B), business-to-government (B2G) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) relations
need to be questioned and potentially adjusted. Blockchain has the potential to shake the foundation of e-
commerce by enabling exchange relations that are trustless and operate without dedicated intermediaries or even
central authorities in the case of permissionless blockchains. Furthermore, the exchange of information and value
between companies and consumers might change considerably by enabling unified access to immutable data
along the entire supply chain. In this paper, a framework and 19 high-level research questions are developed to
inspire researchers to closely investigate the potential impact of blockchain on e-commerce. The main categories
include (a) technological, (b) legal and (c) organizational and quality issues as well as (d) consumer issues. This
paper illustrates how blockchain potentially impacts different elements of e-commerce in these respective areas.
1. Introduction primarily for communication and resource sharing in academic and

military institutions (Oppliger, 1998).
The concept of blockchain was first described in 2008 by Satoshi Public awareness of blockchain increased considerably around the
Nakamoto, who introduced Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer electronic cash year 2015, when not only the exchange value of Bitcoin started to soar,
system (Nakamoto, 2008). As Narayanan and Clark (2017) point out, but several books were published that mainly targeted practitioners and
most of the technologies presented in the paper had been developed in clearly outlined the potential economic value of the technology (Swan,
the decades preceding the publication, but it was their novel combina 2015; Tapscott and Tapscott, 2016). Soon after that, widely read jour
tion that finally led to a solution for the double-spending problem that nals such as Nature, Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management
denotes the multiple spending of the same digital asset (DeSantis et al., Review started to scrutinize the business value of blockchain (Chapron,
2008). Most noteworthy, already in 1983, David Chaum presented a 2017; Iansiti and Lakhani, 2017; Tapscott and Tapscott, 2017). At
solution in which so-called blind signatures (i.e., the content of a mes around the same time, the first publications and calls for papers in in
sage is disguised prior to signing it) allow for an untraceable payment formation systems and business-related journals were published (Beck
system (Chaum, 1983). This system, however, was still dependent on a et al., 2017; Fanning and Centers, 2016), and the focus of attention
central authority. In the years following the publication of Bitcoin, the shifted to the question of how business value can be generated from
concept of blockchain and related technologies was mainly discussed in blockchain technology (Bahga and Madisetti, 2016; Önder and Treibl
dedicated computer science and cryptography communities without maier, 2018). In the meantime, several authors have suggested
having a major impact on society, industry or the economy. To some blockchain-based research agendas for areas such as governance (Beck
extent, this resembles the humble beginnings of the Internet, which are et al., 2018), supply chain management (Treiblmaier, 2018) and the
rooted in the ARPANET, an early packet switching network based on sharing economy (Hawlitschek et al., 2018) and have developed
TCP/IP that was developed at the end of the ‘60 s and was initially used frameworks that differentiate various levels of analysis (i.e., users and
* Corresponding Author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (H. Treiblmaier).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2021.101054
Received 28 April 2020; Received in revised form 19 April 2021; Accepted 20 April 2021
Available online 28 April 2021
1567-4223/© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
H. Treiblmaier and C. Sillaber Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 48 (2021) 101054
society, intermediaries, platforms, firms and industries) (Risius and interact by electronic means (Wang and Archer, 2007, p. 91).
Spohrer, 2017). In this paper, 19 research questions regarding the impact of block
Blockchain was readily embraced by the industry, which led to chain on e-commerce are systematically derived by matching key ele
exaggerated expectations during the hype while the interest in exploring ments of e-commerce with potentially disruptive characteristics of
profitable use cases of blockchain has continued unabated. When it blockchain. This paper starts with a short discussion of the relevant
comes to supply chain solutions, industry giants with different roles in characteristics of e-commerce and blockchain, respectively. Next, tech
extensive value networks such as IBM, Maersk, Carrefour and Walmart nological, legal and organizational and quality issues as well as con
all explore how blockchain can lead to more transparency, faster pro sumer issues are discussed, and research questions are derived that are
cessing and the elimination of paperwork in an industry that is plagued intended to serve as starting points for further studies. Finally, all
by fraud and suffers from substantial inefficiencies (O’Brien, 2019). questions are summarized into a comprehensive research framework,
Amazon recently filed a patent for a blockchain-based authenticator to and the potential implications for academia and the industry are dis
verify the authenticity of customer goods (Joshi, 2020). Overstock.com cussed, followed by several limitations and a brief outlook on future
founded a subsidiary, Medici Ventures, with the mission to advance research.
blockchain technology (Pollock, 2019). More specifically, their goal is to
facilitate peer-to-peer transactions without any major intermediaries. 2. E-Commerce and blockchain
Another example is the envisioned $870 million free trade zone for e-
commerce in Dubai named Dubai CommerCity that goes along with It took the Internet several decades to transform from a network that
Dubai’s vision to become the “happiest city on earth” by leveraging was primarily used for communication purposes at and between military
blockchain technology for government efficiency, industry creation and and educational institutions into a technological platform that was able
international leadership (UAE Government Portal, 2020). According to to host and realize commercial applications (Mueller, 2002). However,
Research and Markets (2020), the global blockchain market will grow after the introduction of the World Wide Web (Berners-Lee et al., 1994),
from USD 3.0bn in 2020 to USD 39.7 bn by 2025 at a compound annual it took only a few more years before commercial websites were soaring
growth rate (CAGR) of 67.3%. Across all application areas, they further (Mukhopadhyay et al., 2008; Tian and Stewart, 2006) and e-commerce
predict that the retail and e-commerce segment will exhibit the highest became a worldwide business model, with retail e-commerce sales
growth rates. Fueling this development, the COVID-19 pandemic has led amounting to 4.89tn US dollars in 2021 with an expected growth of up
to an increase in cryptocurrency payments during the time of crisis to 6.39tn US dollars by 2024 (Statista, 2021b), which has been amplified
(Chamola et al., 2020). by the global COVID-19 outbreak as indicated by early research
Recent research indicates that while blockchain will also have a (Hasanat et al., 2020). In comparison, the total market capitalization of
major impact on e-commerce (Subramanian, 2018), it remains under- cryptocurrencies amounted to 566.26bn US dollars in 2017, 128.78bn
researched (Liu and Li, 2020). E-commerce can be succinctly defined US dollars in 2018, 237.1bn US dollars in 2019 and 758.06bn US dollars
as “buying, selling and marketing on the Internet” (Targett, 2001, p. 4). in 2020 (Statista, 2021a), showing a strong decline after the 2017 hype,
A more detailed description can be found in Turban et al. (2004, p. 3): but also a rapid recovery and growth afterwards. Payments with cryp
“E-commerce describes the process of buying, selling, transferring or tocurrencies only have a 2% share of digital payment transactions, but
exchanging products, services and/or information via computer net are growing in importance (Markham, 2019).
works, including the Internet”. Given the ongoing evolution of block The following sections briefly describe the advent of e-commerce and
chain applications and their potential implications for commercial highlight several important research topics that have emerged. Next,
organizations and customers alike, pending issues related to e-com relevant developments in the area of blockchain are summarized that
merce in several areas need to be addressed. These areas include the even surpass the speed of the e-commerce era with respect to expecta
potential impact of blockchain, the role of virtual assets, the emergence tions and, to an extent, also market adoption. The focus of the discussion
of new topics and the design and deployment of systems: lies particularly on those characteristics of blockchain that have the
potential to significantly impact e-commerce.
• How can blockchain and related technologies impact e-commerce?
• How can virtual assets (i.e., digital representations of value such as 2.1. E-Commerce characteristics
cryptocurrencies), as a salient application of blockchain, impact e-
commerce? Various review papers exist that systematically classify and structure
• What are salient research topics that need to be tackled in order to the existing e-commerce literature. One of the earliest e-commerce re
analyze, explain and predict the impact of blockchain and related tech view papers authored by Ngai and Wat (2002) structures the domain
nologies on e-commerce? into different areas: (a) applications (e.g., inter-organizational systems,
• How can e-commerce systems be designed that capitalize on the strengths payment systems, marketing), (b) technological issues (e.g., security,
of blockchain? network technology, support systems) and (c) support and imple
mentation (e.g., public policy, corporate strategy). Subsequent e-com
Although the term “blockchain” has received most attention in the merce review papers have focused on topics such as trust building for
media, this analysis considers all systems based on Distributed Ledger consumer relationships (Papadopoulos et al., 2001), e-commerce in
Technology (DLT) (Treleaven et al., 2017) since the focus of this paper is specific geographical regions (Vaithianathan, 2010), online consumer
on generic features and not on a particular data structure. Accordingly, behavior research (Hwang, 2016; Thomas et al., 2019), recommenda
the term e-commerce also includes related technologies such as m- tion systems (SLi and Karahanna, 2015) and reference architectures
commerce (mobile commerce) (Clarke III, 2008). (Aulkemeier et al., 2016). Besides identifying the major success factors
Blockchain promises to enable a transformation from the “Internet of of e-commerce, these frameworks are of interest for both practitioners
information” to the “Internet of value” (Tapscott and Euchner, 2019) via and academics since they help to identify criteria that might help to
the transfer of valuable virtual assets as digital information between promote the widespread adoption of e-commerce and provide guidelines
peers, which can potentially affect many intra- and inter-organizational on how to develop successful applications.
processes related to e-commerce. Research in this particular area is Numerous academic papers rigorously investigate the antecedents of
scarce, but so-called Darknet markets and several scientific publications successful e-commerce. Kauffman et al. (2010) illustrate how informa
have already indicated the disruptive potential of “decentralized tion technologies have changed the face of e-commerce through the
blockchain-based electronic marketplaces” (Subramanian, 2018), which creation of business network-based value and conclude that the industry
denotes, in a wide sense, places where buyers and sellers directly underwent a digital transformation. In their analysis of the intensity of e-
2
business adoption and its impact on business performance, Wu et al. Bitcoin, various alternative systems were developed in the ensuing years
(2003) develop a model in which firm characteristics such as top man that have expanded the potential applications beyond virtual asset
agement emphasis, organizational learning ability, customer orientation transactions (Zhang and Lee, 2020). For example, by extending both the
and competitor orientation as well as the competitive environment, data structure and algorithms to support the execution of general-
measured by customer power and normative pressures, are adoption purpose code, blockchain systems such as Ethereum allow participants
antecedents and success factors. The actual impact on performance to store not only transaction code, but also general-purpose program
outcomes is moderated by market and technological uncertainty. Rob code. Such code allows participants to predefine a set of operations to be
erts and Toleman (2007) extend this model by adding the regulatory executed under certain conditions. As this is particularly interesting for
environment (i.e., e-government services and e-government compliance the (practical) automation of contractual exchanges, these programs are
processes), the size of the firm and supply chain power, which also in called smart contracts (Szabo, 1997), and they might have substantial
cludes supplier power, as additional antecedents. Various additional implications for all kinds of e-commerce (Subramanian, 2018).
studies are based on theoretical models such as the Technology Accep These systems have no central authority by design, and the partici
tance Model (TAM) (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use) and pants themselves add new entries to the shared data structure. Newly
Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) (per received entries that have not yet been included in the blockchain are
formance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating forwarded to other participants and successively propagated through
conditions) (Pavlou, 2003; Shih-Tse Wang and Pei-Yu Chou, 2014; Wirtz the system. However, the participants cannot simply add unconfirmed
and Göttel, 2016) and differentiate between decision-maker character entries to their own copies of the blockchain, since they might not
istics, innovation characteristics and environmental characteristics necessarily receive them in the same order as other network nodes and
(Ching and Ellis, 2004) or include additional consumer-specific vari single participants may miss some entries. In order to keep all copies of
ables, such as social influence, trust, perceived risk and satisfaction the blockchain consistent, participants therefore need to achieve
(Guzzo et al., 2016). Taken together, the existing body of academic consensus on the state of the chain through a decentralized majority
literature that has been published over a period of two decades allows voting process. This process is especially complex in those blockchains
for a comprehensive understanding of the factors that contribute to where each participant can generate and use an unlimited number of
effective and efficient e-commerce practices. cryptographic identities (e.g., in Bitcoin). If each of these cryptographic
identities were entitled to one vote in the consensus-building process,
2.2. Blockchain technology characteristics malicious participants could easily compromise the majority vote and
thus the system state by controlling most cryptographic identities. In
According to Mougayar (2016, p. 4), blockchain can be defined from order to avoid such manipulations, the voting weight of participants is
three different angles. Technically, it is a database that maintains a based on other factors that are not arbitrarily scalable, unlike the
distributed ledger that can be inspected openly. Business wise, it is an number of cryptographic identities. Many blockchain systems therefore
exchange network for moving transactions, value and assets between require participants who add new entries to the blockchain to expend an
peers without the assistance of intermediaries. Seen through a legal lens, increasing amount of computing power (proof of work) or to stake value
it validates transactions, thereby replacing previously trusted entities. to commit to a vote (proof of stake). Other mechanisms exist, but are less
Since the focus of this paper is on the specific characteristics of block frequently used at the time of writing (Baliga, 2017). Consensus mech
chain rather than on a specific algorithm or technology, related tech anisms have several goals, the most important of which are (a) leader
nologies that are frequently labeled as DLT or trustless systems are also ship selection and (b) rate limiting. The first ensures that the system
considered. DLT is an umbrella term that refers to technologies that fairly selects a primus inter pares tasked with briefly leading the network
distribute information in either private or public ledgers across several toward a new state that is accepted and shared by all (Gramoli, 2020).
nodes (Crosby et al., 2016). So-called trustless systems do not fully The second ensures that there is a limit to the rate at which new leaders
eliminate the need for trust, but rather they minimize the level of trust are selected and consequently the rate at which the state of the block
needed from any single participant (Wright and De Filippi, 2015). This is chain changes. This not only slows down attacks, but also increases
done by providing various cooperation incentives for actors that reward fairness between participants that might not be able to devote the same
the kinds of behavior that benefit the system as a whole (Böhme et al., resources (Böhme et al., 2015; Möser et al., 2013; Möser and Böhme,
2015; Möser and Böhme, 2015). Following widespread practice in the 2015). For example, in the Bitcoin system, the computation of a valid
academic literature, the remainder of this paper uses the term “block block requires a participant to not only validate the transactions to be
chain” as a synonym to encompass this set of related technologies; the included in the block, but also to repeatedly perform simple computa
reader should be aware, however, that this naming rather follows the tional operations. Each new block is slightly modified by trial and error
typical usage of the term and is not a precise delimitation to other terms. until it meets certain mathematical conditions. As participants only add
This does not matter so much in the context of this paper, since we focus validated blocks to their copies of the blockchain, the resulting chain
on well-understood characteristics common to the set of underlying represents the consensus of computing power in the system. It is
technologies as opposed to any specific manifestation or implementation therefore relatively robust against manipulation attempts because the
of these technologies in the constantly evolving socio-technical computing power necessary to recalculate parts of the blockchain
ecosystem. exponentially increases with each additional block. As an incentive to
Blockchains allow their users to maintain a common database expend computing power, participants who add valid blocks to such a
without the need for a trusted central controller or mutual trust, such type of blockchain are rewarded with fresh virtual asset units (e.g.,
that any participant may enter or leave the system at any time (Böhme Bitcoin) and fees paid by those whose transactions were added to the
et al., 2015). Algorithms establish the chronological order of time- blockchain (Nakamoto, 2008).
stamped entries by cryptographically linking individual transaction Blockchains can be classified into public vs. private as well as per
sets (“blocks”) to each other through cryptographic hashes (Chaffey, missioned vs. permissionless chains. Combinations of these character
2007). Each block is linked to its predecessor via a hash reference, istics give rise to three different types of blockchain technology (Beck
thereby establishing both order and integrity across the chain of blocks. et al., 2018): (1) in public permissioned chains, all nodes can read
These ideas were first implemented in the decentralized online trans transactions, but only authorized nodes can write them; (2) in public
action system named Bitcoin that is based on a particular distributed permissionless chains, all nodes are able to read, submit and write
ledger (Nakamoto, 2008) named blockchain. The Bitcoin blockchain transactions; and (3) in private permissioned chains, only authorized
includes a full transaction history, including the allocation of all existing nodes can read, submit and write transactions (Tsai et al., 2017). These
Bitcoins to specific cryptographic identities. Following the example of distinctions have significant implications in terms of the design of the
3
blockchain and the amount of trust required from the individual par has garnered most public attention and has led to an unsustainable
ticipants as well as the effort needed to prevent malicious attacks. In case bubble (Zetzsche et al., 2017), the fundraising aspects are only the first
the blockchain is used to support information exchange among com step as the underlying virtual assets sold during the fundraising process
panies along a supply chain where the participants know each other, were almost always sold with a promise of usability and utility with the
permissioned and private chains that do not depend on energy-intensive projects’ internal e-commerce market system. This implies the potential
consensus mechanisms might often be the preferred choice. In the emergence of multiple joint and disjoint virtual-asset-based e-commerce
context of e-commerce, different types of blockchain might apply systems.
simultaneously. For example, companies might deploy private and Organizational and quality issues include information, system and
permissioned chains for their supply chains while allowing for payment service quality as well as the traceability of data and payments, which
via Bitcoin that is based on a public and permissionless chain. To relates to problems of data protection and security. Additionally, the
incorporate this diversity, the research questions developed in the structures within organizations might change leading to new business
following sections operate on a rather high level of abstraction to models as well as the need to reconfigure relations between organiza
include all different types of blockchain technologies. In case a specific tions that might potentially impact the complete value network. Finally,
technology is particularly affected, or differently affected, this is noted consumer issues include the proliferation of cryptocurrencies, the inte
in the respective discussion and emphasized in the framework. gration of blockchain features into mobile applications, data-related
aspects, with a special focus on security and privacy from a customer
3. Literature search point of view, and topics that emerge from new opportunities for data
use, such as the possibility to better target customers. Such de
To address the pending issues of blockchain in e-commerce as pre velopments imply relationships and customer service, but blockchain
sented above, we conducted a narrative literature review. This approach may also widen the digital divide. Each of the following sections has the
is mainly used to describe and evaluate published articles without same structure, briefly summarizing several elements of e-commerce
focusing on methodological details, and it fosters exploratory research followed by a discussion of four to six relevant research questions.
by enabling the creation of a solid foundation for future investigation. Tables are shown that juxtapose important elements of e-commerce and
Given the novelty of the subject, we preferred this approach over a potential blockchain-induced changes.
systematic literature review (SLR), the latter of which is the method of
choice when selection criteria as well as the methods of extraction and 4.1. Technological issues
synthesis of the data are explicitly defined (Ferrari, 2015). We started
our search process in academic databases, such as EBSCOhost Business The technological characteristics of blockchain are major drivers of
Source Premier, Scopus and Google Scholar, but did not limit ourselves innovation (Swan, 2015). However, it is presently unclear how to
to academic peer-reviewed articles in the following phases of our capitalize best on these properties to create business value as a sub
research. Most notably, we found that in spite of getting numerous hits stantial amount of uncertainty persists in regard to how to approach
when using search terms such as “blockchain,” “DLT” or “e-commerce” designing such systems. In the following sections, the extant e-com
in full text searches, the number of relevant papers was drastically merce literature on these topics is briefly summarized and considered in
reduced when we filtered for articles that actually discuss the impact of the context of the opportunities and perils arising from blockchain. In
the former two on the latter. The scope of our research also included the the following sections, we discuss four important areas of e-commerce,
analysis of articles that investigate the topic of blockchain and e-com namely, accessibility and traceability, privacy and security, novel
merce from different angles. We therefore screened the abstracts of all technologies and system development and the corresponding
potentially relevant papers and created and selected several categories blockchain-induced changes. In the following sections, we present each
(Mayring, 2000), which finally led to the framework that we present in research question, followed by an in-depth discussion.
this paper. In line with the tenets of qualitative research, the final
structure we discuss in the remainder of this paper emerged during the • Research Question T1: How does blockchain impact accessibility and
analysis and categorization process. traceability in e-commerce?
4. Research framework Accessibility and traceability of data and payments have previously
been identified as major success factors for e-commerce. Nederstigt et al.
Blockchain is a technological stack that impacts e-commerce via (2014, p. 296) point out that “E-commerce is one of the areas in which
technological, legal, organizational and quality issues as well as con growing data congestion on the Web impedes data accessibility” and
sumer issues. It opens up new opportunities by offering unprecedented propose a framework that can create a semi-automatic ontology popu
technological possibilities, but at the same time, it necessitates a critical lation of product information that can be found in web stores. Trace
evaluation of current business processes, such as practices that involve ability is defined by ISO 9001:2000 as the ability to trace the history,
sensitive customer data or the design of communication channels along application or location of an entity throughout its entire supply chain. In
the supply chain. Technological issues relate to the handling of data, order to achieve traceability of data in general and payments in
privacy and security issues, development, implementation and the particular along the whole supply chain, sophisticated models have been
design of the underlying system as well as the potential impact of novel proposed (Bechini et al., 2008). E-commerce transactions that are con
technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud ducted via blockchain store purchase-related data in an ordered and
computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-to-machine (M2M) immutable manner, which helps to improve data provenance and
communication. Legal issues are related to problems arising from the traceability—depending on the technical implementation of the block
gathering, storage and analysis of data as well as potential security chain system (Lo et al., 2017). Depending on the underlying virtual
breaches and compliance requirements that pertain to regulations asset, the exchange might be denominated in a fiat currency, but settled
designated as “know your customer” (KYC) and “anti-money laun through virtual assets priced market-to-market (Hardjono, 2020).
dering” (AML). Additional issues concern the legal conformity of pro Alternatively, the parties may agree to settle in virtual currencies or the
cesses that are automated by the blockchain and of novel business virtual currency may itself be recognized as a government-sanctioned
structures, including fully decentralized autonomous organizations means of payment in which case it is either central bank-issued digital
(DAOs) in the most extreme case. Blockchain also opens up new op currency (CBDC) or e-money (i.e., so-called stable coins). In the Euro
portunities for access to capital markets that still operate in a legal grey pean Union, electronic payments are regulated by the E-Money directive
area in many countries. While the fundraising side of this phenomenon (European Parliament and Council, 2009). While both CBDC and e-
4
money can be realized without an underlying blockchain technology, recognition model can be used to enhance e-commerce customer service,
different forms of distributed ledgers are currently being tested to both while Shang et al. (2012) illustrate how a three-layered (perception,
better understand potential benefits and to get a better understanding of network, service layer) IoT infrastructure can be applied to share rele
negative side effects (Baker, 2020). vant information. The combination of blockchain with innovative
Bahga and Madisetti (2016) and Nakamoto (2008) show how data technologies has led to widespread speculation about novel use cases,
provenance in combination with the immutability of blockchain can ranging from combining the IoT with smart contracts in the insurance
significantly contribute to the overall quality of available data, which in industry to enabling payments without cumbersome administrative
turn leads to better decisions based on that data. Furthermore, this can processes (Underwood, 2016). In the field of healthcare, specifically
help to swiftly identify problems in case of food poisoning or to ensure when it comes to the analysis of radiological images and CT scans,
fair remuneration along the supply chain (Bumblauskas et al., 2020; Peterson et al. (2016) note that blockchain technology can generate
Garaus and Treiblmaier, 2021). Traceability is a central element of all mechanisms to compensate AI service providers for the development
types of blockchain, while accessibility can be restricted depending on and execution of novel machine learning algorithms. Despite the huge
the respective blockchain type as discussed above (Zheng et al., 2017). potential that is recognized in this area, rigorous research on its impli
cations for e-commerce remains scarce.
• Research Question T2: How does blockchain impact privacy and
security in e-commerce? • Research Question T4: How can e-commerce systems be developed
and designed to capitalize on the technical characteristics of
Privacy and security are considered to be key features of e-commerce blockchain?
systems. The level of users’ trust in web-based applications depends to a
large extent on the security features in place (Aljukhadar et al., 2010). Specific guidelines have been published on how to develop and
Fraudulent schemes that steal personal and confidential information (e. implement functional e-commerce architectures and system designs
g., phishing websites) are detrimental to the overall success of e-com (Qin et al., 2009). For example, Peterson et al. (2016) develop a B2C
merce (Ramesh et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2014). Alharbi et al. (2013) implementation framework that follows the traditional phases of sys
identify information technology systems, accountable business prac tems planning and selection, systems analysis, systems design and sys
tices, physical design and networked infrastructure as the major ante tems implementation and operation, and they also specify various sub-
cedents of customers’ perceived privacy and security concerns. A phases. Eliciting and modeling requirements for e-commerce solutions
previously suggested solution to surmount privacy issues was privacy has been a major challenge for system engineers and developers. Hsia
seals, but these have only been able to partly solve consumers’ privacy et al. (2008) present a goal-driven methodology for identifying B2C
issues (Moores and Dhillon, 2003). Transactions conducted on block application requirements that identifies core services, develops a use
chains are, in case no privacy-enhancing technologies are used, avail case model, evaluates the goals and integrates alternatives and trade-
able to all participants (L. Peng et al., 2020). In the case of public offs. Asher (2007) examines four electronic data interchange projects
blockchains, transactions are linked to pseudonymous identities. If e- and develops a B2B e-commerce framework that provides guidelines for
commerce is to be augmented with smart contracts, new security the type of partnership to be pursued. However, with the growing
questions arise that pertain to (a) secure implementation, (b) fair adoption of both general-purpose and specialized blockchains, it will
execution, (c) secure exchange with other systems and (d) privacy become increasingly challenging for e-commerce businesses to select
(Halpin and Piekarska, 2017; Kethineni et al., 2018). Blockchain tech appropriate platforms and ensure cross-technological compatibility. As
nology, implemented via consensus mechanisms, chained storage and Porru et al (2017) and Sillaber et al. (2020) point out, new use cases
sophisticated signature and verification systems, enables a multitude of require further consideration of the resource requirements for block
new features. These include security features such as consistency, chains and new processes and design patterns as well as the develop
tamper-resistance, resistance to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) ment of blockchain-specific implementation frameworks. With the
and double-spending attacks (R. Zhang et al., 2019) as well as the emergence of standardized programmable interfaces for smart contracts
integration of privacy-preserving protection schemes in cases where (e.g., “ERC” in Ethereum), businesses have to increasingly adopt stan
sensor data is used (Chanson et al., 2019). However, blockchain tech dardized programmable interfaces and data exchange formats (Norvill
nology also introduces novel risks, including, amongst others, miners et al., 2019).
taking over the infrastructure, loss or theft of private keys, double- Design-oriented research must therefore carefully document the
spending attacks or flaws in smart contracts (Li et al., 2020). purpose of the respective system as well as the features of the underlying
blockchain and the rationale for using blockchain instead of a traditional
• Research Question T3: How does the combination of blockchain and database solution. In other words, the characteristics of blockchain, such
novel technologies (e.g., IoT, data analytics, cloud computing, AI, as data immutability and shared access, need to be purposefully incor
M2M) impact e-commerce? porated into the system design. The resulting applications need to be
carefully aligned with a company’s overall strategy and business pro
Several authors have highlighted the potential of incorporating novel cesses, which also includes legal issues that will be discussed in the
ways of gathering and analyzing data into e-commerce applications, following section. Table 1 summarizes the respective e-commerce ele
such as the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics, ments and the blockchain-induced changes.
cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-to-machine
(M2M) communication (Piotrowicz and Cuthbertson, 2014; Salah 4.2. Legal issues
et al., 2019; Yu et al., 2017). In this context, IoT refers to the emerging
network of physical objects (i.e., “things”) that are embedded with A predominantly technical development in its early years, block
networked sensors and components for the purpose of connecting and chain now promises a host of new possibilities that regulators need to
interfacing with other devices and systems (Khan and Salah, 2018). fully understand before appropriate changes to legislation can be
Related to the accompanying increase in available data, big data ana determined. Similar to the early days of e-commerce, legislation is lag
lytics is tasked with extracting value from increasing amounts of data ging behind current developments in many countries. This pertains to
(Russom, 2011). Finally, cloud computing denotes the on-demand regulations surrounding the treatment of personal data, investing money
availability of computer resources without active management by the via virtual assets, the legal implications of smart contracts and the
user (Velte et al., 2009). advent of autonomous organizations (De Filippi and Wright, 2018).
Peng et al. (2016) show how online robots that use an intention Additionally, it is currently unclear how issues regarding compliance
5
Table 1 processing of personal data in blockchains (Finck, 2017). Blockchain

Technological issues. systems include data on virtual asset transactions and, in case smart
E-commerce Sources Blockchain- Sources contracts are used for the execution of legal contracts, on contractual
elements induced changes agreements. Although the cryptographic identities used by participants
T1 Data accessibility, (Bechini et al., Consistent view (Bahga and of most existing public blockchain systems are pseudonymous, it is
data traceability, 2008; on data, Madisetti, possible to identify participants using additional information under
payment Nederstigt immutability, 2016; Baker, certain circumstances (Pesch and Sillaber, 2017). This raises the ques
traceability et al., 2014) CBDC, e-money 2020; tion of how e-commerce businesses that process blockchain data can
Bumblauskas
et al., 2020;
ensure compliance with privacy laws such as the GDPR in the European
European Union. As soon as data has been validated and included in a public
Parliament and blockchain, it is made accessible to the public and can be accessed by
Council, 2009; anyone. Pivotal features of the GDPR, such as rights to correction and
Garaus and
erasure, cannot be easily applied to these new technologies (Porru et al.,
Treiblmaier,
2021; 2017). Blockchains that store personal data are subject to the GDPR,
Hardjono, which causes concern for many e-commerce operators.
2020; Lo et al., Research Topic L2: How does blockchain impact knowledge re
2017; quirements regarding customers?
Nakamoto,
2008; Zheng
Disclosure requirements are not new to e-commerce companies.
et al., 2017) Trautman (2015) illustrates the navigation of eBay through a compli
T2 Privacy and (Alharbi et al., Anonymization, (Chanson cated maze of regulatory compliance concerns and estimates that Pay
security 2013; security, privacy- et al., 2019; Pal’s cost of accounting and legal fees may aggregate in the range of
Aljukhadar preserving Halpin and
tens-of-millions of dollars per year. As e-commerce businesses might
et al., 2010; protection, novel Piekarska,
Moores and risks 2017; adopt virtual asset payments for settling purchases, performing KYC &
Dhillon, 2003; Kethineni AML could become an integral part of the process for many businesses
Ramesh et al., et al., 2018; Li for the first time in certain jurisdictions (Möser et al., 2013). Globally,
2017; Zhang et al., 2020; the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and, in the EU, the 5th EU Anti-
et al., 2014) Peng et al.,
Money Laundering Directive (AML5D) stipulate certain requirements
2020; Zhang
et al., 2019) that depend on transaction volume and transaction type. If e-commerce
T3 IoT, big data (Peng et al., Scalability, (Khan and transactions are to be conducted via pseudonymous or completely
analytics, cloud 2016; standardization Salah, 2018; anonymous blockchain systems, e-commerce businesses that have not
computing, AI, Piotrowicz and of programming Peterson et al.,
yet faced any direct KYC or AML requirements due to their reliance on
M2M Cuthbertson, interfaces, 2016;
communication 2014; Russom, formats and Underwood, third party settlement providers could suddenly be confronted with an
2011; Shang processes, 2016) expansive and expensive regulatory regime (Yan et al., 2011). Further
et al., 2012; automated more, as customers may create new identities on demand, profiling and
Velte et al., payment account correlation for tracking purposes might become increasingly
2009; Yu et al.,
difficult (although improving customers’ privacy). Several blockchain-
2017)
T4 Application (Asher, 2007; Novel (Norvill et al., based systems have been proposed (e.g., Moyano and Ross (2017) and
development and Hsia et al., engineering 2019; Porru Jevans et al. (2020)) that conduct the core KYC only once for customers,
implementation, 2008; Peterson processes, design et al., 2017; regardless of the number of institutions they have business relations
system design and et al., 2016; patterns, Sillaber et al.,
with.
architecture Qin et al., implementation 2020)
2009) frameworks,
interfaces, data • Research Question L3: How does blockchain impact legal issues
exchange formats pertaining to organizational structures and processes?
Unlike conventional e-commerce contracts established through

will be regulated in the future (Houben and Snyers, 2018; Lai, 2018).
digitally communicated words or actions where human beings have the
According to our review, five major legal topics can be affected by
final word, the term ”smart contract” is used to describe algorithmic,
blockchain: data-related issues, compliance, organizational processes
self-executing and self-enforcing computer programs that provide
and structures, capital market access and the design of legally compliant
interactive capabilities and can be used to automate many types of
blockchain-based e-commerce systems.
transactions (Szabo, 1997). While it remains to be seen how well the
formation mechanisms of the general principles of contract law can be
• Research Question L1: How does blockchain impact the handling of
applied to the new technological framework of smart contracts and in
sensitive data in e-commerce?
which cases smart contracts can create legally binding rights and obli
gations to their parties, there is little doubt that barriers exist. E-com
The fulfillment of data requirements has been discussed ever since
merce contracts have not formerly been perceived as a technical
the beginning of e-commerce. For example, previous research has
boundary resource in the sense that platform ecosystems could foster
investigated the impact of artificial intelligence on the informational
broader network effects by opening their technical contracting in
requirements of the legal directives for distance selling and e-commerce
terfaces to third parties. Smart contracts in general, and DAOs in
(Lievonen, 2017). A major concern for consumers and legislators alike is
particular, provide new opportunities for e-commerce. Virtual DAOs
the protection of sensitive data and consequently customer privacy
that are built, for example, on Ethereum’s blockchain and function by
(Desai et al., 2003). In the context of e-commerce, legislation in most
means of smart contract technology can be used to autonomously
countries regulates topics such as data collection, use, disclosure,
transact with other parties (Savelyev, 2017).
duration of retention, security and information requirements (Azmi,
2002). While the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has
• Research Question L4: How does blockchain impact capital market
established a global standard for the protection of consumer data
access and formation of new e-commerce markets?
(Goldberg et al., 2019), different privacy regulations apply to the
6
Blockchain also opens hitherto unknown possibilities for gaining GDPR (Finck, 2017). Table 2 summarizes the five major legal topics that
capital market access. A so-called Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a fund can be affected by blockchain.
raising event in which an issuer offers tokens to participants in return for
consideration (Catalini and Gans, 2018). Recently, Security Token Of 4.3. Organizational and quality issues
ferings (STOs) and Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) are gaining more
exposure due to enhanced legal security. Such events are typically This section covers organizational topics that are not related to the
announced through online channels such as virtual asset forums and legal issues discussed in the previous section. This especially pertains to
websites. Most issuers will provide access online to a white paper the importance of aligning organizational structures and processes with
describing the project and key terms of the offering (e.g., economic the new possibilities offered by blockchain (Treiblmaier, 2018). Apart
terms, subscription details, timeline) and present information on the from just generating value from the data (which was identified as a
status of the project as well as the key team members involved (Klöhn technological topic), the question arises as to how to best design orga
and Parhofer, 2018). In the subscription process, the participant is nizations in order to account for data protection, security and quality
generally required to transfer virtual asset to the issuer—typically to one concerns while simultaneously benefitting from the data and function
or more designated addresses (an online reference for virtual assets alities at hand. These tensions can result in novel and varying business
similar to an account number) or online wallets belonging to the issuer. opportunities for companies. Finally, reductions in transaction costs
Unsurprisingly, this emerging fundraising mechanism has attracted may result in a shift in organizational boundaries, which can affect in
scammers and gamblers (Zetzsche et al., 2017). However, the observed ternal organizational structures as well as relations between organiza
novelty of these types of fundraising is that the asset is frequently sold tions. In our review, we identify four major organizational topics: data-
with the promise that the offeror will accept it in an emerging e-com related issues, data protection and security, organizational structures
merce ecosystem where the virtual asset is the sole accepted means of and processes and value networks.
payment (Venegas, 2017).
• Research Question O1: How does blockchain impact e-commerce-
• Research Question L5: How can e-commerce systems be designed related quality issues (e.g., information, system, service)?
that consider the legal idiosyncrasies of blockchain?
Lin (2007) shows how quality-related success factors of e-commerce
Hoeren and Stauder (2001) put together a collection of e-commerce systems, such as information quality, system quality and service quality
regulations, including EU directives as well as US-law and other inter as well as their respective sub-dimensions, can affect relationship
national treaties. These regulations cover topics such as data protection, quality and subsequently customer commitment and retention. Simi
legal protection of software, information provision, aspects of copyright larly, Wang (2008) illustrates how those antecedents impact consumer-
and marketing of financial services. As outlined above, blockchain sys related attributes such as perceived value, user satisfaction and intention
tems are confronted with a plethora of obvious and not-so-obvious to reuse, which ultimately determine the net benefits that can be gained
compliance challenges. As e-commerce businesses explore the use of from e-commerce. Blockchain can potentially help to increase several
such systems, regulatory costs and challenges will increase accordingly, aspects of data and information quality by making data immutable and
and businesses might be confronted with the implementation of showing their provenance along, for example, a supply chain (Kim and
expensive controls to achieve regulatory compliance, such as for the Laskowski, 2018). However, this might lead to additional problems
pertaining, for example, to the impossibility of modifying or deleting
wrong, illegal or outdated data (Neroda, 2019). As a consequence, sys
Table 2
tems need to be designed that take privacy issues into account, for
Legal issues.
example, by using a permissioned blockchain or encryption that sepa
E-commerce Sources Blockchain- Sources rates the communication from the data in smart contracts (Xu et al.,
elements induced changes
2020, 2016) or deliberately conducting relevant transactions outside of
L1 Data requirements, (Azmi, 2002; Immutability vs. (Finck, 2017; blockchains.
data gathering, Desai et al., data protection Pesch and
data protection, 2003; mechanisms, Sillaber,
data security, Goldberg compliance with 2017; Porru • Research Question O2: How does blockchain impact business models
compliance of et al., 2019; GDPR, anonymity et al., 2017) of e-commerce companies?
cross-border data Lievonen, and
transfer, privacy 2017) pseudonymity An early study of e-commerce business models differentiates be
L2 KYC, AML (Trautman, New challenges (Jevans et al.,
2015; Yan due to difficulty in 2020; Möser
tween three different market structures (i.e., portals, market makers,
et al., 2011) token et al., 2013; product/service providers) and matches these with business model
provenance; new Moyano and building blocks (i.e., value streams, revenue streams, logistical streams).
AML and KYC Ross, 2017) The resulting framework identifies various potential revenue streams
regimes
that include, amongst others, reduced transaction costs, online com
L3 Organizational Smart contracts, (Savelyev,
processes and new regulatory 2017; Szabo, munities, advertising, variable pricing strategies and disintermediation
structures bases and liability 1997) (Mahadevan, 2000). Introducing e-commerce initiatives necessitates the
issues, DAOs change of business processes that can either be carried out by simple
L4 Capital market Regulatory (Catalini & automation or by a thorough redesign (Seethamraju, 2006). A practical
access challenges from Gans, 2018;
different Klöhn and
application of Web business process refactoring can be found in Distante
securities laws, Parhofer, et al. (2014) that illustrates how the usability of a website can be
new forms of 2018; increased by systematically analyzing and improving e-commerce
raising money Venegas, related processes, such as payment data input and verification, search
(ICOs, STOs, 2017;
functions or checkout processes. Similarly, online advertising can be
IEOs), new forms Zetzsche
of fraud et al., 2017) tailored so as to best meet the requirements of a specific business
L5 Designing e- (Hoeren and Designing (Finck, 2017) model’s strategy (M. Lin et al., 2012). The impact of blockchain on
commerce- Stauder, blockchain- business models is also an emerging field. Nowinski and Kozma (2017)
compliant systems 2001) compliant differentiate between internal and external drivers of business model
systems
innovation and develop a framework in which they distinguish between
7
strategic customer-related and market components. Kazan et al. (2015) Table 3

outlines emerging blockchain-based business models that overlap with Organizational and quality issues.
“traditional” e-commerce business models. In a seminal article, Szabo E-commerce Sources Blockchain- Sources
(1997) presents the idea of smart contracts as a predefined set of oper elements induced changes
ations to be executed under certain conditions that can help to re- O1 Information quality, (Lin, 2007; Data (Kim and
engineer existing processes as well as to design new ones. Such con system quality, Wang, 2008) immutability, Laskowski,
tracts enable decentralized business models and processes that are service quality, data provenance, 2018;
automatically executed and may help to efficiently settle disputes that traceability, data data ownership Neroda,
protection, data and custody 2019; Xu
may arise between companies as well as in B2C relationships (Waltl security et al., 2020,
et al., 2019). Whether the additional costs when compared to traditional 2016)
e-commerce systems can be justified by positive attributes remains to be O2 Effectiveness and (Distante Decentralized (Kazan et al.,
investigated further. efficiency of et al., 2014; business models, 2015;
processes, Lin et al., smart contracts Nowinski and
disintermediation, 2012; enabling new Kozma, 2017;
• Research Question O3: How does blockchain impact organizational decentralization, Mahadevan, processes and Szabo, 1997;
structures and value networks of e-commerce companies? new business 2000; allowing for the Waltl et al.,
models, changes in Seethamraju, efficient 2019)
The impact of e-commerce on organizational structure, brand ar internal transaction 2006) settlement of
costs disputes
chitecture and IT structure has been thoroughly investigated by Stre O3 Changes in internal (Strebinger Removal of (Beck et al.,
binger and Treiblmaier (2006), who differentiate between external and external and intermediaries, 2018; Böhme
transaction costs incurred by the company, internal transaction costs transaction costs, Treiblmaier, new et al., 2015;
incurred by the company and transaction costs incurred by the con structures of value 2006; organizational Stoll et al.,
networks Treiblmaier and governance 2019;
sumer. In their literature review, they illustrate the supposed effect of e-
and structures, Treiblmaier
commerce on the respective cost subcategories. Similarly, Treiblmaier Strebinger, energy and Umlauff,
and Strebinger (2008) show how e-commerce in combination with in 2008) consumption, 2019)
tegrated IT infrastructure can lead to changes in an organization’s new forms of
overall transaction cost structures. In one of the earlier academic articles work
O4 Design of processes (Asher, 2007; Blockchain-
on the implications of Bitcoin, Böhme et al. (2015) scrutinize the virtual
and structures Ball, 2001; Qin oriented design
asset’s impact on the economy and governance mechanisms, and they et al., 2009) of processes and
conclude that it can be seen as a social science laboratory that may structures
accommodate a community of experimentation built on its foundations.
From a transaction cost perspective, the removal of intermediaries
the blockchain hype, are only infrequently used for online payments,
changes a company’s boundaries via changes in costs. Within organi
although they promise lower transactions costs. Mobile applications
zations, blockchain technology can lead to new forms of work, with both
with integrated blockchain wallets such as smartphones have already
positive and negative effects. Examples of the former include new types
been introduced that integrate certain blockchain features and hide the
of work enrichment and a higher demand for highly-skilled labor, while
complexity of the underlying technology (Biryukov and Tikhomirov,
high energy consumption (Stoll et al., 2019), increased employee su
2019). This might help to increase adoption among consumers who are
pervision and potential job losses illustrate the latter (Treiblmaier and
not used (or unwilling) to take over full control of their private data,
Umlauff, 2019). An economy based on blockchain is also predicted to
which in the case of blockchain goes hand in hand with accepting the
lead to a new form of organizational design labeled as a DAO, in which
risk of total loss that can occur in case private keys are lost or stolen. One
governance rules are specified on blockchain. This has substantial im
example is the hosting of deposits in exchange accounts. Custodial ser
plications on decision rights, accountability and incentive structures
vices, albeit partially contradicting the original libertarian blockchain
(Beck et al., 2018).
philosophy of self-custody and the removal of intermediaries, might
therefore turn out to be an important adoption driver for many end
• Research Question O4: How can e-commerce systems be designed
consumers. A key strategy for many companies is to provide high service
that consider the organizational impact of blockchain?
levels and establish relationships with their customers that are based on
trust (Ying et al., 2018). Currently, it is unclear to what extent block
Various academic papers provide guidelines on how to best design e-
chain may further increase the so-called digital gap or lead to new gaps.
commerce solutions to fit into an organizational structure. As opposed to
Based on the existing literature, we identify six major consumer topics,
research topic T4, which covers technological issues, the focus here is
namely, the proliferation of cryptocurrencies, mobile-based applications
more on organizational issues, such as an organization’s structure or
as killer applications (i.e., applications that gain such great popularity
policies. In a case study in the aerospace industry, for example, Asher
that they help to boost the underlying technology), data-related issues,
(2007) shows how the volume of transactions (i.e., low vs. high) and the
targeting of specific customer segments, customer relationships and the
complexity of transactions (i.e., simple vs. complex) determine the type
digital gap.
of relationship in a B2B e-business partnership. Qin et al. (2009) develop
a framework for the design of e-commerce systems that includes users as
• Research Question C1: What factors impact the proliferation of
key stakeholders. An early summary of the impact of design science on e-
cryptocurrencies and subsequently consumers’ payment behavior?
commerce research and practice can be found in Ball (2001). Table 3
shows the four major organizational topics and lists several postulated
Numerous e-commerce payment systems exist, including invoices,
blockchain-induced changes that have not been investigated yet.
credit cards, PayPal and prepayments, all of which vary in their
respective efficiency and transaction costs (Grüschow et al., 2016).
4.4. Consumer issues
Additionally, numerous options for mobile payments exist, many of
which have failed (Iman, 2018) or are limited to regional markets
As recognized in previous research sections, the gathering and use of
(Humbani and Wiese, 2019). In contrast, cryptocurrencies designed as
private data are key issues for e-commerce businesses. The possibility of
peer-to-peer payment solutions do not depend on traditional in
shared use of data implied by blockchains can potentially benefit not
termediaries. Following Metcalfe’s law, the value of cryptocurrencies
only companies, but also customers. Cryptocurrencies, which launched
8
was predicted to increase proportionally to the square of the number of (2017), who concludes that the protection of fundamental rights and the
end users (Alabi, 2017). However, recent history has also shown that promotion of innovation must be reconciled. This is crucial in cases
most cryptocurrencies are used for speculative purposes rather than for where personally identifiable data is stored and that data is publicly
making online payments (Cheung et al., 2015; Stix, 2021). While current available. The immutability of the data also raises important legal
levels of acceptance are modest, recent research also indicates that there questions as discussed above.
is substantial interest among retailers to adopt them as an alternative
payment method (Jonker, 2019). • Research Topic C4: How does blockchain impact segmentation,
As the premier cryptocurrency with the highest market share, Bitcoin personalization and customization in e-commerce?
suffers from issues of scalability, lack of adoption and transaction costs
that are unsuitable for making micropayments (Kasahara and Kawahara, Previous research has shown the effectiveness of personalization and
2019). This situation is mainly caused by the proof-of-work consensus segmentation methods in e-commerce as compared to generic customer
algorithm, which has hitherto protected the decentralized network from acquisition strategies (Ballestar et al., 2018). A summary of recom
malicious attacks, but simultaneously demands a considerable amount mendation system studies can be found in Li and Karahanna (2015), who
of computing power from the miners to ensure a stable network based on identify the relationships and variables that help to identify consumers,
game-theoretic incentives. Solutions to existing problems such as deliver recommendations and ultimately produce a positive impact on
alternative consensus mechanisms, different network structures and the consumers and markets. These market forces in combination with the
lightning network, a payment protocol operating on top of a Bitcoin, extended data analysis and storage capabilities of blockchain have
have been proposed to increase throughput, but so far this has not already raised important questions under relevant regulations, such as
resulted in a mass adoption for e-commerce payments. It remains to be GDPR (Finck, 2017).
seen whether blockchain-based cryptocurrencies will be able to offer
advantages to online consumers and subsequently gain widespread • Research Question C5: How does blockchain impact e-commerce
adoption. adoption antecedents?
• Research Question C2: How do mobile blockchain applications alter The Internet has been identified as an ideal medium to initiate and
consumers’ buying behavior? maintain customer relationships (Treiblmaier, 2007) although customer
service can still be improved, for example, by using automatisms for
Several mobile applications have long been heralded as so-called predicting customers’ intentions (Peng et al., 2016). On the negative
killer applications for e-commerce (Clarke III, 2008). Previous side, various types of deception exist in e-commerce, which can be
research has both identified sample applications (e.g., SMS) and also differentiated into concealment (withholding negative information),
important success factors such as convenience, ease of use, trust and equivocation (providing vague information) and falsification (selling
ubiquity (Xu and Gutiérrez, 2006) that substantially increase mobile non-existing products) (Xiao and Benbasat, 2011). All these positive and
commerce. More recent research has identified those success factors that negative aspects of the Internet impact consumers’ decisions to adopt e-
allow companies to survive through an evolutionary process in which commerce. The characteristics of blockchain introduce new antecedents
business model variations that do not fit the environment are filtered out of technology adoption (e.g., new forms of transaction processing, se
and successful components are passed on to the next generation of sys curity and control, decentralization) and new risk perceptions on the
tems. These include content apps that are efficient, have a lock-in design side of the customers (Abramova and Böhme, 2016). For example, as
and add complementary monetization mechanisms (Cristofaro, 2020). with most traditional transactions, current blockchain platforms rely on
Blockchain technology has the potential to add several benefits to mo digital signatures that are vulnerable to potential attacks by means of
bile applications, such as increased transparency for consumers (e.g., in quantum computers. While such threats are limited to theory at the
the context of food supply chains), a reduction in security threats and moment, research is already investigating long-term approaches to
integrated loyalty programs that could lead to increased integration mitigate emerging risks (Gao et al., 2018; Kiktenko et al., 2018).
among marketing channels and a consistent user experience. Addition
ally, it can enable a social shopping experience in which consumers use • Research Question C6: How does blockchain impact the digital gap?
social networking services to share their buying experiences with peers,
thereby capitalizing on the size of their network (Lim et al., 2019; Rejeb In terms of the digital divide between those who can reap the benefits
et al., 2020). When it comes to mobile applications and users’ sover of IT and those who cannot, Poon and Lau (2006) take an optimistic
eignty over their own personal data, blockchain is sometimes viewed perspective and argue that it might be e-commerce that is well-suited to
critically due to the immutability of the data. However, mobile appli help close this gap. However, as Doong and Ho (2012) illustrate, a so
cations are being developed that allow consumers to determine for phisticated approach is needed to fully understand ICT development
themselves which data to share with whom and to be rewarded for the across and within countries as well as the possible ramifications. Since
sharing (Travizano et al., 2018). blockchain can also be used to increase security and privacy in smart
homes, technology leaders will soon begin to apply this technology in
• Research Question C3: How does blockchain impact the collection of their private homes, which might increase the digital gap (Dorri et al.,
consumer-related data? 2017). Hence, consumers will be confronted with different applications,
and in many cases they will not even be aware of the underlying tech
Traceability of goods is an important factor for organizations, espe nology that applies equally to all types of blockchains. Table 4 lists the
cially in sectors that are time-critical or deal with perishable products. six major consumer topics and how they can be affected by blockchain-
This especially holds true for the food industry, which has used tools induced changes.
such as Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) to track and trace prod
ucts along the supply chain (Costa et al., 2013). However, companies 5. Discussion and implications
have to be careful when they apply personalization measures based on
sensitive data since customers have different thresholds of privacy E-commerce research has evolved over the course of two decades and
concerns (Treiblmaier and Pollach, 2011). These issues can potentially therefore has a strong theoretical and practical foundation. Seminal
be aggravated by the introduction of blockchain, especially when GDPR papers have been published in dedicated journals (Electronic Commerce
requirements need to be fulfilled (Pesch and Sillaber, 2017). A Research and Applications, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research,
comprehensive overview of the consequences can be found in Finck Electronic Commerce Research, International Journal of Electronic
9
Table 4 Table 5
Consumer issues. Research Framework.
E-commerce Sources Blockchain- Sources Area Research Question Theory
elements induced changes Type
C1 Payment systems (Cheung et al., Removal of (Alabi, 2017; Technology T1: How does blockchain impact accessibility and E, P
2015; intermediaries, Cheung et al., traceability in e-commerce?
Grüschow reduction of 2015; Jonker, T2: How does blockchain impact privacy and security E, P
et al., 2016; transaction costs, 2019; in e-commerce?
Humbani and enabling of Kasahara and T3: How does the combination of blockchain and E, P
Wiese, 2019; micropayments Kawahara, novel technologies (IoT, data analytics, cloud
Iman, 2018) 2019; Stix, computing, AI, M2M) impact e-commerce?
2021) T4: How can e-commerce systems be developed and D
C2 Mobile (Clarke III, Privacy, loyalty (Lim et al., designed to capitalize on the technical characteristics
applications 2008; programs, social 2019; Rejeb of blockchain?
Cristofaro, shopping, et al., 2020; Law L1: How does blockchain impact the handling of E, P
2020; Xu and incentives for Travizano sensitive data in e-commerce?
Gutiérrez, data sharing et al., 2018) L2: How does blockchain impact knowledge E, P
2006) requirements regarding customers?
C3 Data security and (Costa et al., Increased (Finck, 2017; L3: How does blockchain impact legal issues E, P
privacy, 2013; transaction Pesch and pertaining to organizational structures and processes?
transparency, Treiblmaier transparency; Sillaber, L4: How does blockchain impact capital market access E, P
traceability of data and Pollach, new privacy 2017) and the formation of new e-commerce markets?
and payments 2011) issues L5: How can e-commerce systems be designed that D
C4 Segmentation, (Ballestar et al., Custom-purpose (Finck, 2017) consider the legal idiosyncrasies of blockchain?
personalization, 2018; Li and blockchains for Organization O1: How does blockchain impact e-commerce-related E, P
customization Karahanna, individual quality issues (e.g., information, system, service)?
2015) application use O2: How does blockchain impact business models of e- E, P
cases, new legal commerce companies?
problems O3: How does blockchain impact organizational E, P
C6 Relationships, (Peng et al., New antecedents (Abramova structures and value networks of e-commerce
customer service, 2016; of technology and Böhme, companies?
trust Treiblmaier, adoption, security 2016; Gao O4: How can e-commerce systems be designed that D
2007; Xiao and and privacy, risk et al., 2018; consider the organizational impact of blockchain?
Benbasat, perceptions Kiktenko Consumer C1: What factors impact the proliferation of E, P
2011) et al., 2018) cryptocurrencies and subsequently consumers’
C6 Digital divide (Doong and Resource- (Dorri et al., payment behavior?
Ho, 2012; Poon intensive 2017) C2: How do mobile blockchain applications alter E, P
and Lau, 2006) blockchains vs.. consumers’ buying behavior?
low powered C3: How does blockchain impact the collection of E, P
devices; consumer-related data?
blockchain C4: How does blockchain impact segmentation, E, P
scalability personalization, and customization in e-commerce?
C5: How does blockchain impact e-commerce E, P
adoption antecedents?
Commerce, Journal of Theoretical & Applied Electronic Commerce C6: How does blockchain impact the digital gap? E, P
Research) as well as a multitude of other business-related journals that Theory Type: E: Explanation; P: Prediction; D: Design.
emphasize the importance of the domain. In contrast, blockchain is a
relatively new phenomenon that has only recently attracted the interest 5.1. Implications for academia
of academics. Nevertheless, triggered by enthusiastic media reports and
publications that have highlighted the potentials of the technology Building on a huge repository of rigorous research, academia has the
(Swan, 2015; Tapscott and Tapscott, 2016), industry has begun to invest methodological tools to explore, explain and predict the impact of
huge amounts into exploring and implementing diverse use cases. The various blockchain characteristics on different types of e-commerce. The
technology is still under development, and it is still too early to fully existing literature has already scrutinized e-commerce in many con
understand the extent to which blockchain will impact the further ceptual and empirical studies. Popular theoretical frameworks that have
development of e-commerce. However, given the claimed disruptive been applied in this context include theories that deal with technology
potential of the technology in combination with huge expectations from adoption (e.g., TAM, UTAUT, Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), Theory
the industry, frameworks are needed that can guide the systematic of Planned Behavior (TPB) and many modifications thereof) as well as
evaluation of potential implications for both academia and the industry. information systems success models (DeLone and McLean, 2004). Pre
Table 5 summarizes the respective research questions and the asso vious research has also shown the existence of numerous antecedents of
ciated theory types according to Gregor (2006). Explanatory research e-business adoption and performance gains in companies, and that
strives to identify relations, be it causal or others, while predictive different factor combinations lead to varying levels of impact across
research is concerned with making assumptions on future research and different e-business process domains (Roberts and Toleman, 2007). The
design research focuses on developing and deploying systems. While the frameworks presented in Tables 1–4 of this paper that were summarized
suggested theory types do not necessarily exclude other approaches, into 19 research questions in Table 5 build on previous research to show
these would be the most logical choices to start with. It is noteworthy, how blockchain can be investigated as an upcoming technology that has
however, that the theory type refers to the suggested methodological the potential to radically impact e-commerce. These research questions
approach and should not be interpreted as restricting researchers to can serve as a starting point for researchers to further investigate this
theories such as adoption, success or consumer behavior models. It is topic. To better understand these effects, new or modified models and
therefore up to the researcher to select the most appropriate theory theories need to be built and tested that include blockchain as an in
based on the context of the specific study. dependent variable or moderating factor. These models should strive to
answer important questions pertaining to the analysis, explanation and
prediction of artifacts (Gregor, 2006). Additionally, rigorous design
10
science research (Hevner et al., 2004) is well-suited for developing suitable theories that might provide further insights and use empirical
blockchain solutions that incorporate academic knowledge pertaining to data to investigate the topics developed in this paper. Systematic re
system design, development and implementation. New approaches have views of the literature might help to extend and refine our framework as
already been suggested in the domain of software engineering to ac soon as enough academic literature has been published on the subject.
count for the specific characteristics of blockchain, but further re Considering predictions of a major impact by blockchain on society and
finements are needed (Sillaber et al., 2020). Each of the 19 research the economy, an objective and critical evaluation by academic re
questions discussed in this paper can therefore inspire further in-depth searchers can help to structure the domain and identify those charac
studies that use academia’s methodological repository to either teristics of blockchain that contribute value to e-commerce success. A
generate new insights on why specific phenomena exist or to design solid foundation of academic literature might provide the basis for
solutions that improve one or more aspects of e-commerce. None of the inductive research with the goal of generating new theory that will
research questions are limited to a particular methodological approach enable subsequent deductive research with the goal of testing these
(quantitative, qualitative, design science) or theoretical background. It theories as well as individual hypotheses.
is therefore up to individual researchers to decide on how to tackle these Within only a couple of years, blockchain has transformed from an
questions alone or in combination in accordance with their personal obscure technology known only to a handful of dedicated cryptogra
interests and capabilities. phers and specialized computer scientists into a mainstream topic that
attracts billion-dollar investments and interests researchers from a wide
5.2. Implications for managers variety of academic fields, including computer science, information
systems, mathematics (especially game theory), economics, business
Expectations within the industry regarding the disruptive potential administration and even sustainability. Since this development has
of blockchain are high (Notheisen et al., 2017), yet a large amount of occurred within a relatively short time frame and the technology is still
ambiguity exists as to how to capitalize best on the potential benefits of under development, a lot of uncertainty exists regarding the future
this new technology. This uncertainty was not helped by the rise and fall development of blockchain and related technologies and their potential
of Bitcoin’s and other virtual assets’ prices over the course of a few impact on the economy and society. In contrast, research surrounding e-
months in 2017 and 2018. Although many of the major virtual cur commerce as a business model has developed over several years, and
rencies are plagued by high volatility, which is caused by factors such as academic researchers have systematically structured the domain and
lack of regulatory oversight, scams, lack of institutional capital and herd identified the most crucial success factors. This paper illustrates how an
mentality (Iinuma, 2018) that hampers broader adoption, the underly assessment of the potential impact of blockchain on e-commerce can
ing technology has established itself as an interesting solution to a build on previous research and shows how relevant research questions
specific set of problems (Bahga and Madisetti, 2016), often enabling can be derived. It extends previous research frameworks in this area by
leapfrogging of established market players and gatekeepers. The providing an explicit focus on how to investigate blockchain-related
framework presented in this paper can therefore also support companies issues in e-commerce. It is suggested that the domain be split up into
in systematically investigating the potential impact of blockchain on e- four areas: (a) technological issues, (b) legal issues, (c) organizational
commerce. When it comes to the coverage of blockchain technology in and quality issues and (d) consumer issues. The current literature on e-
the popular media, most articles are overly enthusiastic in seeing commerce success was researched in order to identify relevant ante
blockchain as a forthcoming revolution in many areas of life (Tapscott cedents for success across these four areas, and these antecedents were
and Euchner, 2019), but several authors also express their concerns and considered in the light of the characteristics and proposed impact of
warn against a “Blockchain hype” (Kaminska, 2018). Considering these blockchain. This process led to the derivation of 19 research questions
diverse and often conflicting arguments, rigorous and objective in that can be used for a structured and thorough investigation of the
vestigations are needed that critically and objectively assess the impact impact of blockchain on e-commerce.
of blockchain in potential application scenarios. The framework pre
sented in this paper, as shown in Tables 1–5, summarizes the research
Declaration of Competing Interest
questions that can motivate in-depth academic research, but can also
easily be applied to the critical assessment and evaluation of blockchain
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
in the industry. These topics can also be adapted to scenarios depending
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
on, for example, industry type, the scope of the development project and
the work reported in this paper.
the impact on the supply chain.
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Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 48 (2021) 101054

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Electronic Commerce Research and Applications

The impact of blockchain on e-commerce: A framework for salient

1. Introduction primarily for communication and resource sharing in academic and

Table 1 processing of personal data in blockchains (Finck, 2017). Blockchain

Unlike conventional e-commerce contracts established through

strategic customer-related and market components. Kazan et al. (2015) Table 3

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