How Many Shoppers Sign Up for eCommerce SMS Notifications?

When looking to implement a new marketing strategy such as a SMS service for eCommerce, it is important to know just how successful the campaign could be for your business. With the rise of customers ignoring traditional phone calls and marketing emails, retailers need a new way to reach their customers, and SMS eCommerce notifications could be the answer. 

America’s current “always on the go” culture means that there are more consumers with cell phones in their hands than ever before. In fact, in 2018, there were over 5 billion cell phones in the market, allowing for 5 billion unique opportunities for retailers to reach their customers on new, more personal levels. Study after study has proven that consumers open most of their text messages within a matter of minutes while less than one-third of emails are opened, and can take hours to be seen.

SMS notifications are more direct and, typically, more personal than email campaigns resulting in a click-through rate that can measure astronomically higher than that of an email. Less than 5% of opened emails are clicked through to a company’s website, whereas 40-50% of text messages have a positive conversion. 

While it is hard to quantify how many shoppers opt-in to receive eCommerce SMS notifications, most studies seem to suggest that anywhere from 60-70% of consumers want to receive notifications from trusted brands. With an estimated 209 million or more Americans who choose to shop online each year, retailers can assume a minimum of 125,000,000 of those shoppers would respond positively to text message marketing. 

Retailers like Best Buy have used eCommerce SMS Notifications in recent years to revitalize their marketing strategies and improve upon slumping sales numbers. Best Buy has figured out that you cannot simply send sales notifications to consumers. eCommerce SMS Notifications can be used to have customers check-into locations on social media, share deals & purchases with friends, and drive very specific customers to certain items. Loyalty programs help retailers like Best Buy quantify shopping & interest data to better identify which consumers should be notified about what products and incentives. 

SMS notifications have immense value to offer retailers, and it is no question that these campaigns, when used correctly, can be highly successful. There are so many ways to engage customers personally and efficiently, that it is really proving to be one of the most versatile marketing tools out there right now. From sales & shipping notifications to customer service and even fun engagement campaigns, SMS messages are the wave of the future for those in the eCommerce industry.