Overview
Topics
Interviews
Podcast
Textie Awards
Retail messaging covers a vast assortment of use cases and customer types from “your order is ready” texts at your office cafe, to “Valentine’s Day is almost here” messages from international luxury brands, and a whole lot in between.
03: Ecommerce
Why marketers love messaging
55.1% of consumers
regularly open shopping alert texts1
Messaging is mainstream
The digital consumer expects to get marketing texts now but brands are still shy about full message marketing. Meanwhile, early adopters are getting the chance to experiment, figure out best practices, develop communities of opted-in users, and win big!
How your ecommerce customers are using messaging:
Sale alerts
Advertise your biggest sales with a series of SMS or MMS messages on toll-free, short codes, or local numbers.
Special promotions
Running an end-of-season sale on snow shovels? Sounds like it’s time to send an SMS to clear out your inventory!
New arrivals
Keep your customers in the loop on new stuff by sending MMS photos and videos to showcase your latest arrivals.
Product features
Got feature-rich gizmos? Help consumers understand the features and benefits with quick, frequent bursts of product education.
Featured reviews
Show off your five-star reviews and build a body of social proof by including customer quotes in your SMS messages.
Social proof
Spot a celebrity ambassador sporting your sneakers? Make sure all of your shoppers know they’re officially in the cool club with an MMS photo.
Product demos
Infomercials are still running for a reason: blenders are just more interesting when you see what they can do to frozen pineapple. Film mini demos and share them via MMS.
Requesting reviews
Brands can get more positive exposure on sites like Google and Yelp when they use an SMS-driven review request process.
Not only are consumers browsing via mobile, they’re increasingly purchasing via mobile. In 2023, 59% of global consumers surveyed said they’d purchased a product via their mobile device, up 5% from 2022.³
It’s easy to assume that ecommerce messaging is all about marketing. And we cannot overstate what an important marketing tool it is. However, there are also amazing customer research and service use cases to explore.
81% of ecommerce and retail respondents report SMS messages
result in more purchases with 21% stating that there is “much more purchasing”²
How e-commerce companies’ customer service is being revolutionized with messaging
SMS can make online shopping feel safer and more comfortable. Instead of losing customers who abandon carts, you can turn customer service queries into a win for your brand.
Attentive found that when encountering checkout issues, 86.6% of shoppers would prefer a 1:1 connection to help get them sorted. The same goes for shipping issues with 88.4% desiring 1:1 communication.⁴
78% of ecommerce and retail respondents report MMS messages
result in more purchases with 23% stating that there is “much more purchasing”²
Our top use cases for customer service:
Account alerts
Notify your customers when they’ve reached the next rewards thresholds so they can cash ‘em in and keep shopping.
Satisfaction surveys
Send links to quick surveys so you can collect key data and improve CX.
Two-way service agent conversations
Open up an easier way for your customer service team to answer questions with two-way SMS.
Get the opt-in with SMS Marketing best practice
Customer research just got easier for ecommerce companies
Texting isn’t just about sales and problem-solving. It’s a rich medium for getting to know your current market. And, unlike a big formal survey, text surveys and focus groups are easy to implement, change, and develop on an ongoing basis.
Preference surveys
Your customer’s deciding between olive corduroy and burnt umber velvet for their winter collection? Let customers cast their votes via 2-way SMS.
Focus groups
Create group MMS threads for VIP opted-in customers to collect reactions on fresh ideas all year long.
Does your messaging provider have your back?
Reliability is crucial for retail and ecommerce. Limited time promotions during events like Black Friday can put a strain on every piece of the sales funnel, from email platforms, landing pages and websites, chatbots, and even fulfillment and logistics software. If your texts don’t arrive on time on Black Friday, you’re going to lose out on orders. (And don’t forget that post-purchase, texts are a critical channel for reassuring customers and managing expectations!)
Key planning ahead to-dos:
- Make sure that your customer’s campaigns are registered.
- Vet your messages for size and content to prevent them from being blocked.
- Build a relationship with your provider’s support team before the big day.
1. Bandwidth customer survey
2. Bandwidth business survey
3. Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), “General Mobile Behaviours, 2023”
4. Attentive, “The Global State of Conversational Commerce 2023”