According to one study, social media influences buying decision of about 74% online shoppers. Plus, 60% of retailers who implemented social commerce said they gained new customers from different social networks. Social commerce delivers the ultimate in convenience by allowing customers to purchase directly from their preferred social media channels rather than having to exit to a separate shopping cart. This simplicity of integration will continue to grow and dominate in 2017.
In addition, the growing simplicity of these platforms are allowing new entrants with non-technical backgrounds. Keeping these trends and changing requirements of the modern ecommerce business in mind, I have identified the 5 best ecommerce platforms that are likely to serve a range of entrepreneurs (from individuals to established merchants) most effectively in 2017.