Platform enhancers: Collaborating in the early stages of transactional platform development

Abstract

Transactional platforms have emerged over the last decades as a dominant business configuration, receiving substantial attention from scholars and practitioners in several fields. Despite their pivoltal role, several transactional platforms fail in the launching phase, given the difficulties of reaching a critical mass and igniting cross-side network externalities. In this study we explore how a platform provider can introduce a collaborative framework from the earliest stages of platform development, aiming to highlight the benefits and challenges of moving towards a wider ecosystem through the involvement of other players. We introduce the role of platform enhancer, who is neither a supply side or a complementor, but a specific role aiming to support the platform provider in the launch and growth of the platform. We rely a single exploratory case study based on the Italian platform for digital identity, created and managed by the Italian Government through the support of a set of companies working as identity providers. Platform enhancers collaborate with the platform provider in the launch and development of a transactional platform, generating opportunities at both the launch and development stages, yet also substantial challenges and criticalities linked to increasing complexity, which climbs with the number of enhancers involved, producing coopetitive dynamics.