LiveShopia vs spreadsheets and WhatsApp by hand
The most common tool for live selling is not an app. It is a notebook, a spreadsheet and the WhatsApp on your phone, and they work well while orders are few. The table below compares the two ways of working along the steps of a live, without adjectives.
| Criterion | LiveShopia | Spreadsheet and WhatsApp by hand | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live comments | Read automatically, reservations in comment order, with code and size | Read by you or an assistant, noted on paper or in a spreadsheet | The gap shows when comments arrive faster than you can read them. |
| Two customers, same code | The first by comment time gets the item; the second goes on the waitlist automatically | You decide, from memory or from what you saw on screen | The source of most arguments in the comments. |
| The cart to the customer | Goes out on official WhatsApp, with buttons, the moment the reservation is made | Typed by hand, after the live, to each customer | Every cart typed by hand is time taken from the next live. |
| Address and delivery | The customer picks from buttons; last time’s address is suggested | Asked for in the chat, copied into the shipping label | Copying addresses is where delivery mistakes come from. |
| Cash on delivery | Rules: no deposit, fixed deposit, percentage, or new customers only; a trust level from order history | One rule for everyone, or remembered per customer | |
| Shipping label | From the order, after confirmation, in your own courier account | Created by hand in the courier’s platform | The courier connectors are in progress; until then the tracking number is added to the order. |
| Invoice | Issued by your own invoicing software, through a connector, at packing | Issued by hand, order by order, the next day | The invoicing connector is in progress. |
| Packing | You scan the item code; the wrong size does not pass | Visual check | |
| Customer history | Automatic record: orders, refusals, address, language, consents | In your memory or in a separate sheet | |
| Cost | The app is free; you pay per processed order, with no subscription and no percentage of sales | Nothing, plus your time | Your time is the cost a spreadsheet never shows. |
- You take few orders per live and have time to type them by hand.
- You sell occasionally, without cash on delivery, to customers you know.
- You do not want to connect a WhatsApp Business number through the official API.
- You lose orders in the comments or get arguments about “who wrote first”.
- You send carts by hand after the live and fall asleep on your phone.
- You get refused parcels and want rules, not memory.
- You want the shipping label and the invoice from the order, not from copy and paste.
The comparison is about a way of working, not about another product. Both columns describe the same live: the same items, the same customers, the same couriers. What changes is who does the repetitive part, and when.
Frequently asked questions
Can I start with LiveShopia and keep my spreadsheet?
Yes. Orders can be exported, and manual orders (from direct messages, for example) are added in two taps and get the same WhatsApp cart.
How long does the switch from manual work take?
Connecting the channels takes a few minutes; you can run your first live in assisted mode, confirming every reservation yourself and watching how the parser decides.