Digital Intelligence Empowerment and Scenario Adaptation: A Study on the Integration Development Path of "AI+" Cross-Border Smart Retail E-Commerce for the ASEAN Market

Abstract

Against the backdrop of "AI+" being elevated to a national strategic initiative and the accelerated restructuring of digital trade between China and ASEAN, cross-border smart retail e-commerce targeting the ASEAN market stands at a critical juncture of transitioning from "scale expansion" to "value creation." Grounded in industrial integration theory and technology diffusion theory, this study systematically analyzes the enabling effects of "AI+" on cross-border smart retail e-commerce. It reveals the "technology–scenario" adaptation dilemma confronting Guangxi—as China's frontier of opening-up to ASEAN—in the integrated application of AI technologies, specifically the structural tension between generic AI tools and the fragmented, multilingual, and low-trust consumer ecosystem of the ASEAN market. The findings indicate that the integrated development of cross-border smart retail e-commerce for the ASEAN market must transcend the logic of technological transplantation and shift toward a dual-drive model of "digital intelligence empowerment" and "scenario adaptation." This study proposes a three-tier integration architecture comprising "technology middleware–scenario front-end–ecosystem network," and explores a collaborative development pathway of "R&D in Beijing-Shanghai-Guangzhou, integration in Guangxi, and application in ASEAN," thereby providing both theoretical underpinnings and practical guidance for Guangxi to establish itself as a benchmark for "AI+" cross-border e-commerce oriented toward ASEAN.