9 Best Practices to Amp up Your Live Selling in 2023

Numerous e-commerce trends have come and gone, but not many have made quite the impression that live video selling has. 

It all began back in 2016 when this retail giant from China, you may have heard of them, called Alibaba launched their first live event successfully raking in a jaw-dropping $7.5 billion in the first 30 minutes.‍

Live selling took the e-commerce space by storm during the pandemic when people were craving more engaging online shopping experiences. Researchers claimed in a 2022 report that 35% of the US consumers who watched a live selling session made a purchase.

But first things first.

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What is live selling?

Live selling is the process in which retailers go on a live stream to sell their products to their viewers. The beauty of the live selling concept is that any retailer can go live on a platform of their choice and start selling their products to their audience. Retailers leverage various platforms to go live and sell on, sometimes more than one simultaneously to reach a wider audience. 

Vajro is a mobile app builder that comes with its own live-selling platform. Our live-selling platform enables retailers to go live on their mobile apps as well as their Facebook pages and groups to reach a larger audience during a live session.

Live selling sessions are often very interactive and engaging. During the pandemic, when people had to stay indoors, live selling was the closest experience for shoppers who preferred shopping at physical retail stores. According to a report from Astound Commerce, there was a whopping 76% increase in live commerce purchases between March 2020 to July 2021! 

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Why you should consider live selling

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Drives impulse purchases: Live selling is an excellent way to evoke impulse buying by creating a feeling of exclusivity and FOMO. The audience may lean more towards making purchases during such live events.

Promotes better engagement: Video content usually gets more engagement than most other forms of content. Studies reveal that viewers are 2x more likely to share videos with their friends.

Improves sales and conversions: Your sales and conversions skyrocket in no time when your products are put out on sale reaching a larger audience.  

‍Builds brand awareness: Live selling sets your brand apart from your competitors. According to a survey by Wyzowl, live selling improves brand awareness by 42%.  

‍Fun fact: Palette of Threads, an American boutique store, witnessed an increase in customer retention after they finished a live selling session. Every time they went live, their viewers took more interest in their products and visited the store to shop more! You can read the full case study here. 

Alright, now let’s cut to the chase! 

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Live selling best practices

Before you go live,

1. Pick your platform 

Find where your audience is. Retailers could go live on their mobile app or their social platforms depending on what their viewers use more often. Each platform has its own pros and cons. While it’s easier to go live on your social media, it’s easier to get lost in the mix with the ever-changing algorithms. However, on a mobile app, your audience is truly yours and you can be assured that your live sessions are always gonna reach them.

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Willow Boutique, an American fashion store, and a long-time Vajro user had a kickass BFCM 2022, with live selling contributing to a staggering 43% of their mobile revenue. Read the full case study on how the store used Vajro to step up its m-commerce game here! 

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2. Plan your live schedule

It’s simple. Get started by planning your live session schedule ahead of time. After a few sessions , you’ll be able to figure out when you get the maximum engagement when you go live. You can start scheduling your live sessions accordingly to reach most of your audience all at once. This would also help you figure out how often you need to go live, and how long your sessions should be for you to optimize your live selling.

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3. Keep your inventory ready

Before you go live, keep your products up and ready for your sessions. Live selling could also prove to be a great way to clear your inventory and push products. Having your inventory sorted beforehand would ensure a seamless live selling experience for you and your audience alike.

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4. Let your audience know

Create awareness among your audience about your upcoming live sessions and generate buzz ahead of time. You could promote your live sessions on your social media, send push notifications, share product launch teasers, and do so much more to keep your viewers on their toes and stay intrigued!

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Vajro allows retailers to schedule live sessions well in advance with Draft Sales, minimizing any errors that might usually occur during such sessions. Retailers can even send push notifications when they go live to keep their users informed about their live sessions. 

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During your live session,

5. Be yourself and keep it real

When you go live, it’s important to create a genuine connection with your audience. That’s what is going to have them keep coming back to your live sessions. Greet your audience, tell them stories, and introduce your products to them. These are things that will make your store and your sessions memorable to your viewers.

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6. Make sure you engage your audience

Your viewers will have a whole bunch of questions to ask during the sessions. While it’s not practically possible to answer every question, you can try and answer as many as possible. Make sure that you keep reminding your viewers how to take an action (make purchases, in this case). Viewers who join in later might not be aware of the said instructions, so it’s better to remind them regularly.  

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After the session,

7. Make sure you follow through

While it’s awesome to have made incredible sales during your live sessions, it’s more important to build a good relationship with your audience. You can start by ensuring timely delivery of their purchases, and even dropping personal thank you notes whenever possible. If there are going to be  delays, reach out to the customers personally to let them know.  It’d also be great to drop a thank you message on your social media handle to your viewers for attending and making purchases.

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8. Start preparing for your next live session

Once you’re done with the session, it’s time to take a step back and reflect on what worked well and what could have been better. Take your learnings into your next live session to maximize engagement and boost conversions.

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9. Generate passive income with live replays

A lot of platforms allow you to add your live sessions to your store for your audience to view again and make purchases from. These are called live replays, and they’re a great way to make more sales out of your past live sessions without having to put in a lot of effort.

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Vajro’s live-selling platform comes with its very own live replay feature that allows you to add your live sessions to your mobile app for your audience to watch again and make purchases on. 

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Wrapping up

Live selling is a great way to engage your audience, maximize brand awareness and boost conversions. When you consider your first live session, plan your session properly in terms of scheduling and inventory to ensure a seamless and hassle-free experience. 

Vajro is a top-rated mobile app builder that comes with its own live-selling platform that enables retailers to go live on their mobile apps and Facebook groups/pages simultaneously. Would you like to learn more? Talk to our partners at Vajro!