E-commerce is a fast-growing industry that attracts many entrepreneurs; however, the survival rate is lower than that of other industries. Entrepreneurs take many strategic decisions that have a significant bearing on the success of their e-commerce ventures. Two are particularly salient for our research: Is it better to start as a pure-click or open a physical store? To what extent should e-commerce ventures internationalize? We also wonder if it is worth reviewing the first annual accounts available. Grounding on organizational ecology theory, we develop a model hypothesizing that (1) the brick-and-click strategy favours survival; (2) internationalization favours survival; (3) firm size and financial health matter; (4) earnings management mediates the relationship between financial health and survival; and (5) the brick-and-click and internationalization strategies mediate the relationship between size and survival. The empirical study is performed by analysing seven years of data on 632 new e-commerce ventures using non-parametric means tests, a Cox regression, and a generalized structural equation model. The study tests the strategies followed by e-commerce entrepreneurs and firm characteristics that influence survival. We find that the risk of bankruptcy is 1.437 times greater for pure-click than for brick-and-click retailers, 2.778 times greater for local players than for internationalized firms, and 1.787 times greater for unprofitable firms than for profitable firms. Hence, it is worth analysing the financial statements provided by entrepreneurs; however, signs of earnings management should be checked. All these factors affect the probability of early bankruptcy as well as explain survival several years later.

电子商务是一个快速发展的行业，吸引了许多企业家。但是，成活率低于其他行业。企业家做出许多战略决策，这些决策与他们的电子商务事业的成功息息相关。有两个对我们的研究特别重要：从纯单击开始还是打开实体商店更好？电子商务企业应在多大程度上实现国际化？我们还想知道是否值得审查可用的第一个年度帐目。在组织生态学理论的基础上，我们开发了一个模型，该模型假设：（1）实体战略是有利于生存的；（2）国际化有利于生存；（3）企业规模和财务健康状况；（4）盈余管理调节财务健康与生存之间的关系；（5）一键点击和国际化战略可以调解规模与生存之间的关系。通过使用非参数均值检验，Cox回归和广义结构方程模型对632个新的电子商务企业的7年数据进行分析，进行了实证研究。该研究测试了电子商务企业家遵循的策略以及影响生存的公司特征。我们发现，纯点击的破产风险比点按式零售商高1.437倍，本地参与者比国际化公司高2.778倍，无利可图的公司比有盈利的公司高1.787倍。因此，值得分析企业家提供的财务报表；但是，应检查盈余管理的迹象。