{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,9]],"date-time":"2026-05-09T00:09:54Z","timestamp":1778285394991,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]],"date-time":"2026-05-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778198400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100013254","name":"National College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["201610542011"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["201610542011"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100013254","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Key Social Science Project of Hunan Provincial Department of Education","award":["25A0058"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["25A0058"]}]},{"name":"General Program of Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation","award":["2026JJ50250"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2026JJ50250"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>With e-commerce booming, MNEs (Multinational Enterprises) often tap into online markets through E-retailers in multinational e-commerce platforms. Therefore, which e-commerce entry model MNEs choose can be critical, especially when the MNE owning a retail division in the same market. Notably, the MNE can address the plague of low-quality images of e-retailers by introducing blockchain technology, but the effectiveness of blockchain technology for quality verification also varies across different e-commerce entry models. In this paper, we develop a two-tier supply chain model with a manufacturing division in a high-tax area and various retailers in a low-tax area. The retailers comprise the manufacturing division of the MNE and e-retailers. The e-retailers include self-operated e-commerce, FBP merchants, i.e., merchants handling sales while the platform manages product delivery and after-sales services, and SOP merchants, i.e., merchants separately manage operations, shipping, and sales. We find that the larger the tax disparity, the lower the overall profits of MNEs, irrespective of the implementation of blockchain technology. Furthermore, the overall profit of the MNE is more significant when adopting a singular e-commerce entry model without the introduction of blockchain technology; conversely, the total profit of the MNE is more significant when adopting a composite e-commerce entry model with the introduction of blockchain technology. Interestingly, when blockchain technology is implemented, the MNE is more lucrative under the e-commerce entry model with a medium initial market potential if the service gap between the e-retailer and the manufacturing division is modest.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0335655","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]],"date-time":"2026-05-08T23:11:27Z","timestamp":1778281887000},"page":"e0335655","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Blockchain-enabled strategic optimization: A decision analytics framework for multinational enterprises\u2019 e-commerce entry model"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Liurui","family":"Deng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-5600-6139","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Xiaoying","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-0627-9952","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Ying","family":"Xiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0335655.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tre.2013.09.002","article-title":"A study on pricing and delivery strategy for e-retailing systems","volume":"59","author":"YS Huang","year":"2013","journal-title":"Transp Res Pt E-Logist Transp Rev"},{"key":"pone.0335655.ref002","first-page":"90","article-title":"Analysis of online channel competition strategy choices under different entrymode combinations of hybrid e-commerce platform","volume":"38","author":"T Wang","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Indust Eng Manag"},{"key":"pone.0335655.ref003","first-page":"102854","article-title":"Influence of perceived risk on consumers\u2019 intention and behavior in cross-border e-commerce transactions: A case study of the Tmall Global platform","volume":"81","author":"D Ma","year":"2025","journal-title":"Int J Inform Manag"},{"key":"pone.0335655.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101823","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tre.2019.101823","article-title":"Gray market and counterfeiting in supply chains: A review of the operations literature and implications to luxury industries","volume":"133","author":"YJ Wang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Transp Res Pt E-Logist Transp Rev"},{"key":"pone.0335655.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"537","DOI":"10.1016\/j.procs.2024.03.037","article-title":"The Influence of Product Quality and Online Shopping Experience (OSE) on Consumer Loyalty Through Customer Satisfaction on Local Skincare Products","volume":"234","author":"J Abigail","year":"2024","journal-title":"Procedia Comput Sci"},{"key":"pone.0335655.ref006","article-title":"Factors Influencing Customers Trust In B2C E-Commerce and Their Relationship with Business Sustainability","author":"Y Helmy","year":"2024","journal-title":"Int J Glob Bus Compet"},{"key":"pone.0335655.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Muthu SE, Kartheeban K. 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