In 2019, I stumbled upon the future of shopping: virtual live sales. I first noticed live sales on TikTok & other third party live sale platforms, especially from creators in Asia, where they were very popular. Inspired by their success, I delved into the world of live sales and eventually hosted my first one on the Galaxy platform from my Chicago studio. It was a success—everything sold out quickly, and I enjoyed the real-time interaction with customers.
A neighbor of mine, Brittany, introduced me to live selling on Instagram. She preferred to sell directly on Instagram rather than using third-party apps. Her approach was eye-opening, as it aligned with my desire to keep everything in-house at Holy Thrift. I realized that live selling on Instagram allowed me to maintain a direct connection with our customers rather than funneling our efforts through various external platforms.
I started incorporating live sales more regularly, sometimes going live for up to five hours. Live selling became a way to showcase new inventory and interact with customers directly, answering questions about fit and showing items that hadn’t yet made it to the website. It felt like a modern version of QVC, but on social media, where people could shop directly through Instagram.
As I developed the live sales, other members of Holy Thrift noticed and wanted to join in. That’s how "Live Sale Tuesday" was born!
Here’s the formula: Every Tuesday at 6 PM Eastern, I kick off the live sale with my little improv bit & warm up the crowd with my pieces as an opening act to our headliner. Then, we dive into the main event—an exclusive chance to shop new items from one of our stylists.
This routine quickly gain traction & helped build a strong community around our live sales, turning it into an anticipated weekly event.
Our live sales are engaging because no two stylists offer the same items. Holy Thrift features vintage resellers and independent designers, ensuring a diverse range of products each week. Our audience has grown, and we now have a base of regular customers whom we know by name and style preferences. We even name items after frequent customers based on their tastes.
Live selling has become a hybrid of online shopping, personal styling, and market pop-ups. It allows us to interact directly with customers, offering a personalized shopping experience. It's not just about making sales but creating a network where we act as personal stylists for our audience.
Our live sales have become a key part of our business, and we affectionately call our live sale Instagram presence "HTTV," a play on HGTV. The feedback we receive, like comments expressing excitement for our weekly shows, is incredibly rewarding. We're incredibly excited for the continued growth of the live sales & to foster a community of people that love vintage and up & coming designers as much as we do. See you next Tuesday!
Sophie AKA Hazy Vintage is one of our go to stylists for LST!
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