Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of the available literature on value co-creation (VCC) and provide insightful future directions for research in this domain. Design/methodology/approach: The extant literature on VCC has been reviewed by collecting relevant research papers based on certain specified delimiting criteria. A total of 110 research papers have been analysed to gain useful insights into VCC literature. Findings: The study analyses the literature on VCC and provides a clear distinction between VCC and its closely related constructs in the literature. The study also draws significant insights from the VCC literature based on some specific parameters. Some frequently used theoretical perspectives have been discussed in the study, thus pointing towards a few alternative theories that can be used for future research. Finally, specific trends emerging from the literature have been discussed that provide a comprehensive understanding of the research inclinations of this concept, along with future scopes of research in the VCC domain. Research limitations/implications: The papers were selected for this study based on some delimiting criteria. Thus, the findings cannot be generalised for the entire research on VCC. Originality/value: This paper fulfils the need for a systematic review of the extant literature on VCC. The study synthesises literature and bibliography on VCC from 2004 to 2019 to benefit both academics and practitioners and gives some directions to advance this domain of literature.