The role of supply chain finance in improving the competitive advantage of online retailing enterprises

This paper presents a case study on JD.com, one of the largest e-commerce platforms in China, to demonstrate how this online retailer enhances its competitive advantage by employing supply chain finance (SCF) practices to accelerate collaboration within the supply chain. Based on field interviews, this study investigates motivations and enabling factors for SCF adoption. Results show that JD adopts SCF mainly to strengthen its ecosystem and attain competitive advantage. In the sight of resource-based view and dynamic capability, JD builds an iterative process to conduct SCF practice. Enabling factors, mainly financial technology (fintech) and bargaining power, play critical roles in the decision-making process. The development of fintech facilitates the digitalization and capitalization process by improving transparency and efficiency while bargaining power influences the productization process. The adoption of SCF practice helps JD build closer partnership with supply chain partners and improves its own competitive advantage.