A Case Study on Entry Strategies of SMEs Participating in Cross-Border E-Commerce

The SMEs of Taiwan engaged in cross-border e-commerce exports have advantages such as rich commodity items, good quality and perfect after-sales services. How to help Taiwan SMEs actively engage in cross-border e-commerce and break through the bottleneck of traditional trade exports is an important issue of the Taiwan authorities. The main purpose of this study is to explore the ways in which SMEs participate in cross-border e-commerce and their entry modes for expanding international markets from the perspective of small and medium-sized suppliers. The study used multiple case studies. This research found that the entry mode of SMEs for launching into cross-border e-commerce can be divided into three main ways, including: seeking third-party operators, cooperating with overseas platforms, or self-built official websites. In addition, the network marketing strategy of SMEs participating in cross-border e-commerce is divided into three types: e-commerce platform-driven overseas marketing, global network marketing led by brand owners, and collective website co-brand promotion model. Moreover, the entry modes of the case manufacturers to expand the international market include: authorization which belongs to the non-equity mode, “joint venture” and “overseas agent” mode of the equity mode.