21 Reasons Why E-tailers Are Embracing SMS as a Viable Customer Service Tool

The SMS ecommerce marketing revolution is here to stay, and many ecommerce companies are joining the bandwagon. This article will touch on 21 reasons why SMS marketing for ecommerce isn’t just a passing trend. In fact, it’s quickly becoming a popular vehicle for customer service in ecommerce.

Here are all the reasons why retailers love it.

1. High Open Rates

One key metric for measuring ecommerce success is the number of people opening your messages. Text messages are more likely to be open and read than emails. According to Gartner, the average SMS open rate hovers around 98%, while emails have only a 20% open rate. As you can imagine, this is very attractive to online retailers.

2. It Has a Fast Response Rate

If you’re looking to get prompt responses from customers, then SMS marketing should be your preferred channel. Usually, it can take hours or even days for a person to respond to an email. But people are more likely to react quickly to a text message, with most messages getting read within 90 seconds of receipt.

3. You Can Send Personalized Messages Through SMS

Reaching your customers through a text message allows you to send them a more direct and tailored message. As such, customers feel the urge to engage better with you and your products. With options to customize the message, including the addition of multimedia, it’s an attractive amenity that e-tailers can now offer to consumers.

4. You Get High Click-Through Rates

Click-through rates for businesses that reach their customers via SMS are impressive. Did you know that 3 out of 10 customers are likely to click on the hyperlinks inserted in text messages? That’s right… SMS has a whopping 30% plus click-through rate, something that’s hard to beat with any other medium.

5. Clients Want Businesses to Use SMS Marketing

More than 60% of consumers want businesses to communicate through SMS. This means that when you use SMS marketing, you’re doing exactly what your customers want. The results are improved communication and better customer service.

6. Many Retailers Are Pivoting to SMS Marketing

A growing number of retailers across sites like Amazon, eBay, and Shopify are turning to SMS marketing. This trend isn’t surprising considering that ecommerce SMS marketing is a fast and reliable way of engaging with new and existing customers.

7. It’s Less Saturated

While SMS marketing is growing in leaps and bounds, more than 60% of marketers still don’t use it. That means that SMS is less saturated than other marketing channels, including social media and email. You’ll get an edge over your competitors if you’re an early adopter.

8. It’s Affordable

Reaching a large number of customers via SMS is more cost-effective. The amount you pay for sending bulk text messages to customers depends on your SMS marketing provider. In general, however, with less than $1,000, you can reach around 50,000 customers per month.

9. It’s an Alternative to Social Media Marketing

Social media sites like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook used to be the go-to platforms for marketing. While they’re still excellent channels for marketing, SMS is a worthwhile alternative. For best ecommerce results, businesses can combine both.

10. It’s a Versatile Channel

SMS marketing is a versatile channel. You can do everything from sending surveys, running shopping giveaways and promotions, and updating your customers through it. Although other channels like email and social media may be better for long-form messages, SMS marketing forces you to keep your message short and precise.

11. It Can Boost Other Marketing Channels

You can insert a hyperlink to your website, blog, or social media platform in a personalized SMS to your customers. Because of the higher click-through rate, you can easily drive traffic to your other marketing platforms via SMS marketing for ecommerce.

12. You Can Grow a Loyal Audience Through SMS

SMS marketing is a much quicker way of reaching a large audience over their phones, a device they’re constantly using. According to PrismaGlobal, 70% of customers prefer to receive a sales promo via text. What’s more, as you continuously communicate with your customers and attend to their needs via text, customers feel more attached and loyal to your brand.

13. You Can Reach More People

There are more than 5 billion mobile users today, and almost all of them can read and respond to a text message. For ecommerce businesses that use SMS marketing, this is good news because they can reach more people faster and quickly engage with new customers who just made a purchase.

14. High Chance of Customers Seeing Your Message

In the US, the average person checks their phone more than 263 times a day. In other words, there’s a higher chance of customers seeing and responding to your messages when you use SMS marketing.

15. It’s Good for Small Businesses

Small businesses may find it difficult to thrive on social media and email marketing platforms where retail giants dominate. However, SMS marketing is level ground for all companies. It’s cost effective, easy to integrate and the preferred method of post-purchase message for consumers.

16. It’s Easy to Use

Reaching clients via SMS is straightforward. With just a short code, your customers can subscribe and receive personalized marketing campaigns from your company. Many service providers make it even simple, with premade templates, easy contact uploads and many other features designed to streamline integration.

17. You Can Track Progress Easily

With the right SMS marketing software, you can keep tabs on your SMS marketing progress. Many SMS marketing solutions come with analytics that help you track critical KPIs such as delivery rates, open rates and response rates.

18. Other Industries Are Already Using It

Apart from e-commerce companies, businesses from other industries, like CNN, BBC, and even Facebook, also reach their customers through SMS marketing—further proof that it’s here to stay.

19. It Has a Higher Rate of Coupon Redemption

Compared to SMS marketing, customers are less likely to redeem a coupon across other platforms like social media sites and email channels. SMS marketing coupons have a high redemption rate of 10%.

20. It Helps Your Brand Reputation

Sending an SMS is a great way to build your brand reputation. For instance, when it comes to receiving brand updates, 48% of customers prefer SMS texts compared to 22% who prefer email.

21. Fast Delivery

In just a few minutes, you can send thousands of personalized emails to your target customers. Also, several apps can help you schedule your delivery process, making SMS messaging a less time-consuming process.

Final Words

SMS marketing is growing at a fast pace. But, despite all the benefits of SMS marketing, only 68% of businesses are adopting it as a means of reaching customers. So clearly, it’s the perfect time to join the SMS marketing train.

Need even more tips? Read our related guide: Ecommerce SMS Marketing Statistics for 2021