Purpose: The global economy is currently undergoing a significant digital transformation that is reshaping traditional commerce and creating new opportunities for international trade. The development of emerging technologies has a direct impact on international trade by facilitating the cross-border movement of goods and services. These technologies enhance innovation, productivity, and operational efficiency. This study aims to conduct a systematic and comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the literature on digital transformation in cross-border e-commerce, with a particular focus on emerging technologies. Specifically, this research seeks to identify recent research trends, evaluate the scientific performance of authors, countries, journals, and institutions, analyze collaboration and co occurrence networks, and uncover key themes and emerging technologies within this domain. Given the rapid growth of the digital economy and the increasing complexity of cross-border business interactions, understanding the knowledge structure of this field is essential for identifying future development trajectories, research gaps, and innovation opportunities. Therefore, this study provides a comprehensive overview of the scientific evolution of digital transformation in cross-border e-commerce and offers directions for future research.

Methodology: Adopting a pragmatist research perspective and a systematic review strategy, this study identified 1,015 records from the Scopus database. Following the screening process based on the PRISMA protocol, 413 eligible articles published between 2001 and 2026 were selected for bibliometric analysis. Data analysis was conducted using specialized software tools, including RStudio and VOSviewer. This methodological approach enabled a comprehensive examination of publication trends, collaboration networks, knowledge structures, citation patterns, and the evolutionary pathways of cross-border e-commerce research with an emphasis on emerging technologies.

Findings: The findings identified the most influential documents, authors, journals, institutions, and countries in terms of research performance. Furthermore, through the analysis of interaction patterns among research elements and content analysis of the retrieved data, this study highlights significant insights into cross-border e-commerce with a specific emphasis on emerging technologies. The findings reveal that this research domain is primarily structured around five major thematic areas: (1) digital transformation, international trade, and supply chain management in cross-border e-commerce; (2) artificial intelligence, big data, and intelligent analytics in cross-border e-commerce; (3) the application of intelligent algorithms and the Internet of Things in e-commerce operations management; (4) blockchain, information security, and digital governance in cross-border trade; and (5) digital marketplaces and data analytics in e-commerce. These thematic clusters provide a coherent conceptual framework for understanding future research directions in this field.

Conclusion: The results demonstrate that cross-border e-commerce is transitioning from a focus on individual technologies toward the development of intelligent digital trade ecosystems. Within these ecosystems, technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, the Internet of Things, big data analytics, intelligent logistics, and digital platforms are no longer merely supporting tools but have become strategic components and core elements of business models. This transformation indicates that the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of international trade will increasingly depend on the synergistic integration and convergence of these technologies with digital transformation strategies. Such a trajectory enhances transparency, security, intelligent decision-making, supply chain integration, and customer experience, guiding the future of cross-border e-commerce toward AI-driven, blockchain-enabled, and IoT-based intelligent digital ecosystems. Furthermore, the findings suggest that future research will increasingly focus on smart business models, digital governance, sustainability, supply chain resilience, and stakeholder collaboration within emerging technology ecosystems, positioning cross-border e-commerce as a central driver of international trade transformation.