Supplier Selection and Seller Prioritization in E-Commerce Platforms: A Systematic Review of Multi-Criteria and Hybrid Decision-Making Approaches

What the paper says

The development of digital supply chains has significantly changed traditional supplier selection models that focus on static and cost-driven criteria. In addition to price, operational standards, service excellence, and contribution to the platform should be taken into account when evaluating sellers operating on dynamic, performance-oriented e-commerce platforms. This study addresses this gap by developing a comprehensive multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework through a systematic literature review according to PRISMA methodology. Searches conducted in Web of Science, ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore, Google Scholar, and Taylor & Francis yielded 4630 records from 2014 to 2025, of which 123 were analyzed using bibliometric mapping and thematic synthesis. The findings indicate a progressive diversification of evaluation criteria over time: while quality, delivery, and cost remain foundational, recent studies increasingly address customer service, search volume, and refined financial indicators such as profit and markup rate, pointing toward more multidimensional seller evaluation models. Through thematic synthesis of the indicators identified across the reviewed studies, we propose a four-dimensional framework encompassing financial sustainability, operational efficiency, quality and service standards, and market positioning. The study also discusses the implications of integrating artificial intelligence with multi-criteria and hybrid decision-making approaches for developing adaptive seller ranking systems. By synthesizing fragmented research, our framework offers strategic guidance for platform managers designing seller evaluation and allocation mechanisms.