Abstract: As an emerging business model driven by the digital economy, social e-commerce exhibits a unique value creation mechanism that holds significant importance for enterprise and market development. However, existing research on its internal logic and operational mechanisms remains insufficient. From the perspectives of value creation, ecosystems and related theories, this study employs a multi-case grounded theory approach, selecting Mengxiang Group, Dehui Haowu, and Xiyu Xiaobai as research subjects. Following a “cause-behavior-result” analytical framework, the study identifies five core categories: value creation drivers, community channel construction, rapid technology iteration, stakeholder empowerment and social e-commerce value creation. It constructs a mechanism model of social e-commerce value creation and proposes five theoretical propositions. The findings reveal that social e-commerce enhances value co-creation capabilities through community channel construction and rapid technology iteration, achieves value expansion through stakeholder empowerment and resource collaboration, and attains sustainable value creation through ecosystem value co-creation. This study deepens the understanding of value creation logic within decentralized operational models, extends platform ecosystem and stakeholder theories, and provides theoretical support for designing sustainable social e-commerce models. Additionally, it offers practical guidance for policy development and industry standardization.

Key words: community e-commerce, value creation, ecosystem, grounded theory