Abstract
Due to the increased popularity of social networking platforms, a new form of electronic commerce (e-commerce) has emerged, namely social commerce (s-commerce). This research examines trust mechanisms based on the buyers' perspectives in Saudi Arabia and how social platforms can be better designed to enhance trust. Two studies were conducted to achieve the aims: co-design workshops undertaken to develop and finalize design recommendations, and the second comprised a critique of the mock-up to evaluate the recommendations. These two studies helped validate the results of previous studies conducted to understand the current use of s-commerce platforms. In this paper, critical features for such platforms are identified and design preferences are explored (e.g., news feed and explore). This paper can help inform the design of s-commerce, especially with regard to social and trust aspects. For example, the features related to family and friends, such as friends' verifications, reviews and profiles, have a crucial impact on enhancing trust within social commerce platforms.