Strange Similarities Between Whatnot and Your Website

If you're plugged in to the Redesignia blog or newsletter, you know I've been dabbling in reselling clothes this year. What started out as cleaning out my closet has bloomed into a profitable, part time side hustle. Part of the process of reselling is sourcing inventory and Whatnot shows are my new favorite way to do it.

In case you don't know, Whatnot is essentially QVC but with thousands of sellers and shops inside your phone selling everything from vintage clothes to modern finds. Any time I download a new app, I'm skeptical if I'll like it or not.

Whatnot is now one of my favorite ways to shop online, for myself and reselling, without having to go to the thrift store. Here are a few similarities between Whatnot shows, selling online, and web design.

Grabbing and Keeping Attention

Since Whatnot is an app, keeping you on the app is the number one priority. Through gamification, tons of shows and the infamous endless scroll, users want to stay. The longer you stay the more likely you are to buy.

For each store or seller, there is a host running the show. They show off the items and then you bid on what you want. The host also wants you to stay. They incentivize you with giveaways, chatting, music and engaging with their audience while showing off their products.

Depending on your preferences, different hosting styles can annoy you or bore you. For me, I prefer people talking clearly and calmly, describing items in detail with measurements and paying attention to questions and comments in the chat.

I don't like when hosts are rushing, talking fast and acting like online auctioneers. I don't vibe with the fake urgency. The hosts I like might be annoying to you and vice versa. Keeping your audience engaged without feeling icky is a complex task.

Words Matter

We already talked about how different hosts and sellers are appealing to different people. Part of this is how they talk to you, the buyer and audience member. For some people this is just a job so they are putting in the bare minimum think cashiers working minimum wage. Not saying this to be derogatory, I've been a minimum wage cashier before!

The sellers that own their own businesses are going a step further. They are trying to build connection and community. This way you will spend more and also share more because we all know how precious eyeballs on our products are right now.

One seller I watched had a very smart set up. Each time someone would win the auction for an item, she thanked them then directed them to her Instagram account. If they followed her and tagged her wearing this item, she sends them a DM with a discount code for their next purchase.

How smart is that! This helps to build her audience and create a sense of community. How you speak to people, whether they have purchased something or not, speaks to how you'll continue to act towards them in the future.

Respecting Your Audience

These shows and your site both have the same end goal; selling something whether it's your services or products. Shows where the person running the items seems disrespectful or annoying, I have a low threshold for annoying, I'm going to scroll to another show. The same thing happens with websites.

We used to expect perfection from hosts. I'd argue now the imperfections are more charming. I've seen hosts make mistakes or help guide others who made one. This is a much better quality then forging ahead and pretending everything is fine even if disaster is looming.

I've seen a host try to test out a zipper and when it didn't work they took the item away aka they didn't want to sell a defective product. Way more endearing to me than the opposite. Respecting your audience, their time and money is so important to fostering a positive relationship and a repeat customer.

Everyone Is Selling

Reselling clothes online is the same as selling anything online. Getting new people to see your content or products, grabbing their attention and treating them with respect will work out well in the long run and create repeat customers.

If you want to learn more about my web design tools check out my mood board challenge or Squarespace template. If you want to try out Whatnot you can create an account through my affiliate link. You get a free credit and I get a free credit. Talk about a win win!