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Original 2026-01-01

Modified 2026-03-10

1 <p>More people than ever before are open to receiving text messages from brands.</p>

2 <p>But it’s not good enough to know that in vague terms.</p>

3 <p>Klaviyo recently teamed up with subscription and recurring payments platform<a>Recharge</a>in a<a>global survey of 8,781 people</a>to find out:</p>

4 <ul><li>How text messages influence people to buy products</li>

5 <li>The types of text messages people want from brands</li>

6 <li>How brands can get the most out of their SMS marketing strategy</li>

7 </ul><p>To meet our research criteria, survey respondents needed to conduct at least half their shopping online while doing it at least twice a month. We surveyed people from North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific (APAC) to help brands develop international SMS marketing strategies.</p>

8 <p>Read on to get the stats from the study that will help you market smarter over SMS.</p>

9 <h2>Top SMS marketing stats in 2024: SMS speeds up time to purchase</h2>

10 <p>While consumers generally tend to prefer email over SMS, the data is clear about one thing: a phone number is an extremely lucrative piece of data for brands to collect.</p>

11 <p>Here are a few top findings from our research that prove the point:</p>

12 <p>Text messages drive purchases.</p>

13 <p>72% of people have made a purchase after receiving a text from a brand. For Europe, that number is slightly higher at 74%; for APAC, slightly lower at 69%.</p>

14 <p>People who buy from text messages are buying more often.</p>

15 <p>86% of respondents made 2+ purchases in the last year from SMS messages, up from 55% in 2022. Within that group of respondents, 30% said they made 4+ purchases from SMS in the last year, and almost 10% made 6+ purchases.</p>

16 <p>SMS can speed up time to purchase.</p>

17 <p>65% of people who made an SMS purchase in the last year said it was something they were planning to buy in the near future or in a few months-and they ended up buying the item earlier than they planned to because of a promotional text message. This is up from 60% of people who said the same in 2022.</p>

18 <p>SMS is becoming a viable channel for impulse buying, too.</p>

19 <p>14% of respondents made a purchase when they weren’t thinking about buying at all.</p>

20 <h2>SMS list growth: how to get more subscribers</h2>

21 <p>Discounts drive SMS sign-ups. But it’s also not that simple.</p>

22 <p>When we compare what people say would make them more likely to subscribe to SMS to why they<em>actually</em>sign up, it seems like brands can circumvent discounts if people are already loyalists.</p>

23 <p>The importance of offering SMS sign-up options at check-out and in<a>post-purchase email flows</a>becomes obvious when you consider that 62% of people are more likely to subscribe to SMS after they’ve made a purchase-up from 50% in 2022.</p>

24 <h3><strong>What increases the likelihood of subscribing to SMS</strong></h3>

25 <ul><li>Being offered a discount: 59%</li>

26 <li>Being able to ask questions and receive fast responses via text message (<a>conversational SMS</a>): 39%</li>

27 <li>Being offered a unique product or experience: 38%</li>

28 <li>Personalized messages: 33%</li>

29 <li>Knowing there’s a person on the other end of the message: 31%</li>

30 <li>Being able to communicate with favorite brands via text message: 28%</li>

31 <li>Being able to edit or update an upcoming subscription order: 27%</li>

32 <li>Being able to repeat purchase via text message (without providing payment info): 23%</li>

33 <li>Being able to repeat purchase via text message by providing payment: 20%</li>

34 </ul><h3><strong>Why people actually sign up for SMS</strong></h3>

35 <ul><li>It’s a brand they love: 39%</li>

36 <li>They’re about to make a purchase and want to get a discount: 38%</li>

37 <li>They want to get messages about their order status: 38%</li>

38 <li>They purchase from the brand frequently: 37%</li>

39 <li>It’s a brand they want to purchase from when there’s a sale: 35%</li>

40 <li>They want early access to sales or new products: 34%</li>

41 <li>They want notifications when specific products are on sale or back in stock: 29%</li>

42 <li>They want reminders about upcoming orders or appointments: 29%</li>

43 <li>It’s a brand they spend a lot of money on: 28%</li>

44 <li>They want to stay up-to-date on the latest news: 24%</li>

45 <li>They want to edit or update their upcoming subscription order without logging in to their account: 21%</li>

46 </ul><h2>SMS communication preferences: frequency and time of day</h2>

47 <p>If you’ve ever been afraid you’re sending too many text messages, odds are you’re not.</p>

48 <p>While you still need to be mindful of frequency-61% of people said they unsubscribe from SMS because they receive too many messages-72% of people are willing to receive a text at least once a week, and almost half of those (45%) are willing to receive a text<em>more</em>than once a week.</p>

49 <p>Not only that, but 50% of respondents in North America said they<em>expect</em>to see a text from a brand at least once per week. This is why Klaviyo recommends sending text messages regularly once you start-if you don’t, your subscribers may forget why they signed up in the first place and end up unsubscribing.</p>

50 <h3><strong>Acceptable SMS frequency from brands</strong></h3>

51 <ul><li>A few times a week: 32%</li>

52 <li>Once a week: 27%</li>

53 <li>A few times a month: 16%</li>

54 <li>Once a day: 13%</li>

55 </ul><h3><strong>When to send text messages to convert subscribers</strong></h3>

56 <p>Your SMS marketing strategy is about quick communication and, ideally, fast conversion. This is why, unlike other “always on” marketing channels, send time really, really matters with SMS.</p>

57 <p>But send time doesn’t just matter for conversion-it also matters for compliance. So even though most people (45%) make purchases via SMS in the evening, brands must keep quiet hours in mind.</p>

58 <p>The<a>TCPA prohibits any telephone solicitation</a>(including text messages) anytime before 8:00 am and after 9:00 pm in the recipient’s time zone, but certain states have more restrictive rules.<a>Sending based on time zone</a>can help you stay compliant.</p>

59 <p>With all that in mind, here’s when people are most likely to make a purchase via SMS:</p>

60 <ul><li>Evening: 45%</li>

61 <li>Afternoon: 25%</li>

62 <li>Midday: 13%</li>

63 <li>Morning: 9%</li>

64 <li>Late night hours: 8%</li>

65 </ul><p>And here’s what people are most likely doing when they make that SMS purchase:</p>

66 <ul><li>Watching TV: 52%</li>

67 <li>Having a snack or drinking a beverage: 28%</li>

68 <li>Commuting: 7%</li>

69 <li>Working: 6%</li>

70 <li>Doing something else: 5%</li>

71 <li>Cooking: 3%</li>

72 </ul><h2>SMS message types: what people want to receive…and what they don’t</h2>

73 <p>In general, the types of text messages people want to receive from brands can be broken down into 3 categories:</p>

74 <p>“Jobs to be done” messages</p>

75 <p><a>Transactional SMS</a>messages, such as order confirmations, shipment and delivery confirmations, back-in-stock notifications, and product subscription reminders</p>

76 <p>Exclusivity messages</p>

77 <p>Fast responses, unique-to-them experiences, birthday deals, and other personalized messages</p>

78 <p>Money-saving messages</p>

79 <p>Discounts and sales</p>

80 <h3><strong>Top 5 SMS messages people want to receive more often</strong></h3>

81 <ul><li>Shipment and delivery confirmations: 51%</li>

82 <li>Coupons or promotional codes: 42%</li>

83 <li>Order confirmations: 39%</li>

84 <li>Birthday deals: 37%</li>

85 <li>Promotion and sales announcements: 32%</li>

86 </ul><h3><strong>Top 5 exclusivity-related SMS messages</strong></h3>

87 <ul><li>Birthday deals: 34%</li>

88 <li>Loyalty program offers and benefits: 33%</li>

89 <li>Early access to sales, product drops, and other VIP experiences: 31%</li>

90 <li>Coupons or promotional codes: 31%</li>

91 <li>Promotion and sales announcements: 26%</li>

92 </ul><h3><strong>Top 5 SMS messages people want to receive less often</strong></h3>

93 <ul><li>Abandoned cart reminders: 37%</li>

94 <li>Low inventory alerts: 34%</li>

95 <li>Messages based on actions taken: 33%</li>

96 <li>Interesting or helpful content with no sales component: 32%</li>

97 <li>New product announcements: 32%</li>

98 </ul><h3><strong>What makes people unsubscribe from SMS?</strong></h3>

99 <ul><li>Receiving too many messages: 61%</li>

100 <li>Receiving the same message too many times: 57%</li>

101 <li>Messages that don’t have a purpose: 53%</li>

102 <li>Receiving messages on topics or products they’re not interested in: 46%</li>

103 <li>Messages that don’t seem intended for them: 44%</li>

104 <li>Receiving the same message by email and SMS: 37%</li>

105 <li>Receiving messages at inappropriate times: 35%</li>

106 <li>Only receiving messaging regarding discounts and sales: 17%</li>

107 </ul><h2>SMS subscription and conversion rates: how SMS influences brand loyalty</h2>

108 <p>Our research found that brand loyalty and SMS engagement reinforce each other: while 39% of respondents have signed up for SMS because they love a particular brand, 59% are more likely to engage with a brand when they’re subscribed to SMS.</p>

109 <h3><strong>Number of brands people are subscribed to via SMS</strong></h3>

110 <ul><li>2-3 brands: 45%</li>

111 <li>4-5 brands: 29%</li>

112 <li>1 brand: 12%</li>

113 <li>6-7 brands: 8%</li>

114 <li>7+ brands: 7%</li>

115 </ul><h3><strong>Frequency of purchasing in the past year after a text</strong></h3>

116 <ul><li>2-3x: 56%</li>

117 <li>4-5x: 21%</li>

118 <li>Once: 14%</li>

119 <li>More than 6x: 9%</li>

120 </ul><h2>Email and SMS: segmenting based on preferred channel</h2>

121 <p>While35% of people find receiving the same message via email and SMS to be very helpful,another 27% say it depends on the message.</p>

122 <p>This is why an integrated email-SMS strategy is so important-because people have different channel preferences for different types of messages.</p>

123 <p>Here’s how those preferences break down:</p>

124 <ul><li>Shipment and delivery confirmations: 32% SMS vs. 46% email</li>

125 <li>Birthday deals: 26% SMS vs. 47% email</li>

126 <li>Order confirmations: 24% SMS vs. 54% email</li>

127 <li>Coupons or promotional codes: 23% SMS vs. 50% email</li>

128 <li>Back-in-stock notifications: 23% SMS vs. 44% email</li>

129 <li>Early access to sales, product drops, and other VIP experiences: 22% SMS vs. 46% email</li>

130 <li>Promotion and sales announcements: 21% SMS vs. 48% email</li>

131 <li>Edit or update an upcoming subscription order: 21% SMS vs. 50% email</li>

132 <li>Product subscription reminders: 20% SMS vs. 47% email</li>

133 <li>Loyalty program offers and benefits: 20% SMS vs. 51% email</li>

134 <li>Low inventory alerts: 18% SMS vs. 37% email</li>

135 <li>Abandoned cart reminders: 18% SMS vs. 39% email</li>

136 <li>Special announcements like upcoming events: 18% SMS vs. 46% email</li>

137 <li>Messages based on actions: 18% SMS vs. 41% email</li>

138 <li>New product announcements: 15% SMS vs. 47% email</li>

139 <li>Interesting or helpful content with no sales component: 15% SMS vs. 44% email</li>

140 - </ul><p>A step-by-step guide to integrating email & SMS</p>

140 + </ul><p>The No. 1 way to increase ROI through SMS marketing is to leverage it alongside your email marketing strategy. Welcome to your tactical guide to coordinating multi-channel campaigns and flows.</p>

141 - <p>Welcome to your tactical guide to coordinating multi-channel campaigns and flows.</p>

141 + <p><a>Get the guide</a></p>

142 <h2>SMS marketing statistics by region</h2>

143 <p>To help brands develop international SMS marketing strategies, we surveyed people from North America, Europe, and APAC. Here are some of the most notable regional differences to keep in mind:</p>

144 <h3><strong>More North American consumers prefer SMS</strong></h3>

145 <p>SMS marketing is most essential in North America, where 30% of people say it’s their most preferred channel (compared to 24% globally).</p>

146 <p>North Americans are also most likely to purchase before midday, although it’s not a given-which means brands that rely on SMS purchases in North America should A/B test send time more frequently than when they send to Europe and APAC regions.</p>

147 <p>Finally, while North Americans are most open to receiving more than one SMS message per week, they also prefer “jobs to be done” transactional messages over other types of messages.</p>

148 <h3><strong>Europeans are most likely to repeat purchase through SMS</strong></h3>

149 <p>Europeans have the highest brand loyalty of any region: 61% say they’re loyal to 3 or more brands, compared to 45% of North Americans and 48% of APAC consumers.</p>

150 <p>Europeans also subscribe most frequently to SMS messages-46% subscribe to 4 or more brands, compared to 38% of North Americans.</p>

151 <p>Conversion from first-time buyer to repeat purchaser works best in Europe, too. Europeans are most likely to have made an SMS purchase 4-5x in the last year (23%), compared to 18% of North Americans and 17% of APAC consumers.</p>

152 <h3><strong>APAC consumers subscribe to SMS for discounts and custom experiences</strong></h3>

153 <p>Discounts are more important for SMS sign-ups in the APAC region-66% of respondents say a discount would increase their likelihood of subscribing, compared to a global average of 59%. People from this region also expect the least amount of SMS messages-ideally only 1x a week.</p>

154 <p>APAC consumers are also most likely to want differentiated email and SMS experiences: 40% say receiving the same email and SMS message is repetitive, compared to 32% of North Americans and 31% of Europeans.</p>

155 <h2>Win more SMS customers with Klaviyo</h2>

156 <p>Ready to put these stats to work? With high customer ratings on both<a>G2</a>and<a>TrustRadius</a>, Klaviyo is “the leader of the industry” for SMS marketing, says Elliot Scott, founder and CEO of London-based retention agency<a>ElliotDigital</a>-and it’s the only platform his agency uses for email and SMS.</p>

157 <p>Use<a>Klaviyo SMS marketing</a>to:</p>

158 <ul><li>Grow your SMS list with a variety of touchpoints: targeted sign-up forms, QR codes, consent at check-out, and AI-powered forms display optimization.</li>

159 <li>Integrate SMS messages and email with advanced segmentation options.</li>

160 <li>Send personalized messages and create custom experiences with hyper-specific audience targeting.</li>

161 <li>Make sure you’re compliant with regional quiet hours via time zone sending.</li>

162 <li>Move first-time buyers to repeat purchase with personalized campaigns.</li>

163 <li>Send table stakes transactional SMS messages for a stellar post-purchase experience.</li>

164 </ul>