Disruptive Innovation in the Context of Retailing: Digital Trends and the Internationalization of the Yiwu Commodity Market

The prevalence of disruptive innovation practices, enabled by the advancement of digital technologies, has greatly changed the way SMEs innovate and the competitive landscape of today’s retail industry. This study seeks to understand how disruptive innovation has been adopted for the purpose of internationalization across retailing SMEs in Yiwu’s Commodity Market. To answer the research questions, the approach used in this study utilized a qualitative research approach in combination with semi-structured interviews. In this way, the chronology of several phases of Yiwu’s Commodity Market’s development into a global market center is presented, based on analysis of the data. The findings of this study provide an insight into how to facilitate disruptive paths to achieve the internationalization of SMEs through dynamism of the market, strategy positioning, and capability construction. This study contributes to literature on disruptive innovation by providing and testing a model of internationalization mechanisms that SMEs can use to coordinate digital disruptive innovation-related activities. The study also provides insights for policymakers and SMEs in the retail industry about the importance of digital technologies for motivating potential entrepreneurs to pursue new ventures.