Abstract: In the online retail revolution, China has formed a unique vertical equilibrium mode with the platform-based online retail organizations taking the dominant position. This special industrial organization phenomenon is resulted from the mutual adaptation of the organizations and the external environment generated during their interactive process. From the perspective of organizations, the technical and contractual characteristics produced endogenously in the platform-based online retail organizations have determined the external environment that it can best adapt, that is to say, the traditional demand mode featured with sparse, diversified, function-intensified market demand and the traditional manufacturing mode characterized with simple product manufacturing, low skills and small-scale manufacturing enterprises. From the perspective of external environment, when the retail revolution is breaking out, China’s economy is in the stage transforming from traditional to modern, during which the traditional demand and manufacturing mode are in a dominant position, this is more conducive to the survival and development of the platform-based online retail organizations.

Key words: online retail organization; vertical equilibrium; demand mode; manufacturing mode