A Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Review on E-Marketplaces, Open Innovation, and Sustainability

Abstract

In recent years, the rise of e-commerce has prompted the emergence of electronic marketplaces, or e-marketplaces, which act as intermediaries in the buying and selling process, bringing together several vendors to offer a wide range of products and services to customers, generating modalities such as business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C) or consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-marketplaces. E-marketplaces offer advantages such as access to potential buyers, business and product visibility, the reduction of transaction costs, the comparison of offers and prices among competitors, and the ease of business internationalization. However, the success of e-marketplace business models depends on the sustainability of these platforms, which must involve different stakeholders in order to meet economic, environmental, and social objectives. Therefore, this study presents a bibliometric analysis and systematic review of e-marketplaces, open innovation, and sustainability for the last ten, five, and two years. The analysis includes the number, types, and subject areas of documents published each year, as well as considerations such as the most-cited publications and the leading authors, journals, countries, and institutional affiliations. The analysis also includes a study of the relevant concepts in the publications and their relationships, identifying the predominant topics related to e-marketplaces, open innovation, and sustainability. The results indicate a focus on subject areas such as social sciences, environmental sciences, energy, business, management, and accounting, which is consistent with the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability. The findings show that e-marketplaces, open innovation, and sustainability are closely related to concepts such as sustainable development, e-commerce, digital marketing, China (the leading country in terms of publications in all periods), logistics, supply chain management, big data, planning, and decision making. Future works should address traffic congestion and environmental impact, new delivery practices in last-mile logistics, and the motives for users’ engagement in e-marketplaces. Likewise, future research can be oriented toward sustainability dimensions and stakeholders’ integration through open innovation and toward the limitations of SMEs in order to access and benefit from digital platforms.