数字时代小商户的私域运营与生存韧性——平台主导下技术红利兑现的社会学分析

Private Domain Operations and Survival Resilience of Small Merchants in the Digital Age--A sociological analysis of the realization of technological dividends under the leadership of the platform

本文基于对茶叶电商发展状况的案例研究,探讨了缺少规则议价及资本造势的小商户得以持存并兑现电商技术红利的机制。研究表明,虽然电商平台与大品牌商家倾向于强强联合并日益占领公域资源,小商户仍能充分发挥自身的主体性,通过私域运营的方式避免在技术发展中被边缘化的命运。私域运营之所以能够为小商户赢得相当的生存空间,主要来自数字技术与产业经营过程的融合:首先,平台的迁移性塑造了流动的线上场域并容纳小商户灵活的生意形态;其次,私域的可见性促发个性化产品的供给及其与商户个人特质的互嵌;最后,线上线下贯通的连接性延展了人与人互动和连接的广度和密度,为小商户积累了实质性的人际关系资本。本研究为考察数字化背景下小商户的生存韧性提供了一个解释框架。

Based on a case study of the development of tea e-commerce,this paper explores the mechanisms by which small merchants who lack rule-making bargaining power and capital-driven momentum can survive and cash in on the dividends of e-commerce technology.The study indicates that although e-commerce platforms and large brand merchants tend to form strong alliances and increasingly monopolize public domain resources,small merchants still fully leverage their agency by operating in private domains to avoid being marginalized in technological development.The reason why private domain operations can win considerable living space for small merchants mainly comes from the integration of digital technology and the industrial operation process:firstly,the portability of the platform shapes a fluid online field and accommodates the flexible business forms of small merchants;the visibility of the private domain stimulates the supply of personalized products and their interweaving with the personal characteristics of the merchants;the connectivity that penetrates both online and offline extends the breadth and density of human interaction and connection,accumulating substantial interpersonal capital for small merchants.This study provides an interpretative framework for examining the resilience of small merchants in the context of digitalization.