Rivalry2

HTML Diff

122 added 0 removed

Original 2026-01-01

Modified 2026-03-10

1 SMS MARKETING

2 <h2>The SMS marketing guide for ecommerce businesses</h2>

3 How to connect with retail customers at scale with text marketing

4 + Summary

5 + <h2>Ecommerce SMS strategies for 2025</h2>

6 + SMS is a powerful tool in retail and ecommerce marketers’ toolbox. According to Klaviyo’s<a>SMS marketing research with Recharge</a>, 72% of consumers are willing to receive a text from a brand at least once a week.

7 + Brands that haven’t invested in SMS are missing a massive opportunity. The same research found that 72% of consumers have made a purchase after receiving a text from a brand, and over half have purchased 2-3x.

8 + <a>SMS marketing</a>is especially powerful for retail and ecommerce brands because it bridges the digital and in-person customer experience. By combining a personal touch with the instant gratification of online shopping, brands can create intimacy at scale and drive more purchases.

9 + <h2>Why SMS marketing matters for retail brands</h2>

10 + The retail and ecommerce sales cycle is already pretty fast, but SMS makes it even faster. Klaviyo’s<a>SMS marketing research with Recharge</a>found that 65% of people who made an SMS purchase in the last year bought the item earlier than they planned to because of a promotional text message. Another 14% made a purchase they weren’t planning on at all.

11 + And, according to Klaviyo’s latest<a>SMS marketing benchmarks</a>, SMS delivers serious engagement and value for ecommerce brands:

12 + •The top 10% of apparel and accessories brands see average SMS campaign click rates of 16.65%, placed order rates of 0.59%, and revenue per recipient (RPR) of $0.80.

13 + •The top 10% of health and beauty brands see average SMS campaign click rates of 11.11%, placed order rates of 0.77%, and RPR of $0.85.

14 + •The top 10% of toys and hobbies brands see average SMS campaign click rates of 18.76%, placed order rates of 0.73%, and RPR of $0.83.

15 + DTC brand<a>Dagne Dover</a>combines SMS with email outreach to engage customers at critical points in the consideration process and drive purchases. In their first year with Klaviyo SMS, the brand saw<a>12,000% ROI</a>and attracted more than 100,000 SMS subscribers. Today, email and SMS marketing make up 25% of Dagne Dover’s quarterly revenue.

16 + <h2>4 ways to build your retail SMS subscriber list</h2>

17 + To<a>attract SMS subscribers</a>, make it worth their while. Be thoughtful about where, when, and how you ask for sign-ups, and collect proper consent with built-in<a>SMS compliance</a>tools and clear opt-in messaging. We recommend collecting transactional vs. marketing consent separately.

18 + <h3>1. Launch SMS sign-up forms on your website</h3>

19 + Wherever you trigger sign-up forms on your website, collect phone numbers along with email addresses. You can structure your forms as multi-step forms that ask for email consent first, then SMS (like<a>Marine Layer</a>), give subscribers the choice of what to share (like<a>Shinola</a>), or target email subscribers with SMS-specific sign-up forms (like<a>Dagne Dover</a>).

4 Image source: Marine Layer

20 Image source: Marine Layer

5 Image source: Dagne Dover

21 Image source: Dagne Dover

22 + <h3>2. Send a “sign up for SMS” email campaign</h3>

23 + Email subscribers already have an affinity for your brand and have demonstrated a certain level of intent. Many of them will likely be open to hearing from your brand via SMS.

24 + <h3>3. Use QR codes in physical retail locations</h3>

25 + What better place to ask for sign-ups than your store, where customers are already interested in your brand? Use in-store signage that touts the benefits of signing up for SMS to convert new subscribers.

26 + <h3>4. Collect SMS at the point of sale</h3>

27 + After customers buy in-store or online, keep the love going by encouraging them to opt in to SMS. (Note: If you’re doing this online, make sure the opt-in checkbox is unchecked by default to comply with SMS regulations.)

28 + <h2>Ecommerce store SMS integration best practices</h2>

29 + SMS is just one component of a powerful omnichannel ecommerce experience, not a standalone tool.

30 + Integrate your SMS platform with your ecommerce store. Or better yet, choose a B2C CRM with SMS built in. Klaviyo B2C CRM integrates with<a>Shopify</a>,<a>WooCommerce</a>,<a>Magento 2</a>, and<a>BigCommerce</a>, just to name a few, so product, inventory and order data automatically syncs for omnichannel marketing activation. Combining shopping data like purchase and browse history with marketing intelligence creates a complete picture of the customer that powers personalization at scale.

31 + With Klaviyo, you can explore<a>350+ ecommerce integrations</a>that build deeper relationships, spanning use cases like:

32 + •Surveys and quizzes

33 + •Loyalty programs

34 + •Affiliate and influencer marketing

35 + •Review collection

36 + •Subscription management

37 + To further improve the customer experience, connect online and offline customer data. Unify your customer profiles to ensure that your channels complement rather than clash with each other, and make it easy for customers to see their purchases from both locations. This helps you understand your customers more holistically, too.

38 + Apparel brand<a>Marine Layer</a>has brick-and-mortar locations as well as a thriving ecommerce business. By consolidating all their customer data in Klaviyo and integrating with their ecommerce platform,<a>Shopify Plus</a>, the brand can now track engagement across ecommerce, retail, email, and SMS-in one platform. The results?<a>40.4% YoY growth in Klaviyo-attributed revenue</a>.

39 + <h2>Must-have SMS marketing campaigns for ecommerce brands</h2>

40 + One-off SMS campaigns reach subscribers in a precise moment, and can include:

41 + •Flash sales

42 + •Limited-time offers

43 + •New product announcements

44 + •Retail store launches

45 + •In-person events

46 + •Early access to product drops

47 + •Holiday promotions

48 + <h3>SMS campaign spotlight: holiday SMS marketing</h3>

49 + BFCM is basically the Super Bowl for ecommerce brands, but there are a lot of practices and games leading up to this massive weekend:<a>Memorial Day</a>,<a>Mother’s Day</a>,<a>Father’s Day</a>,<a>4th of July</a>,<a>Labor Day</a>, and more. Build your SMS<a>marketing campaign calendar</a>around these holidays to create urgency and exclusivity, and coordinate with other channels for maximum impact.

50 + Remember, though, these peak retail seasons are high-volume times for not just sellers but consumers, who will be inundated with promotions from every brand they subscribe to. To break through the noise, pair your SMS outreach with granular segmentation so you’re sending the right messages to the right people.

51 + Other tried-and-true<a>BFCM tactics</a>include:

52 + •Partnering with other brands on promotions and sales

53 + •Encouraging customers to build wishlists

54 + •Providing early access to discounts or sales to VIPs

55 + •Activating on-site shoppers with exclusive offers

56 + •Running hybrid abandonment flows, plural

57 + Handcrafted goods brand<a>Shinola</a>’s 2024 BFCM event ran for almost 3 weeks. It was a daily drumbeat of email offers on specific products and limited-edition drops, amplified by regular SMS campaigns. During BFCM itself, they switched to a spend-more, save-more sitewide event-and all of these strategies help boost<a>Klaviyo-attributed BFCM revenue 27% YoY</a>.

58 + “SMS is how people want to be communicated with these days,” says Brett Vincke, email marketing manager at Shinola.

59 + <h2>Must-have SMS automations for ecommerce brands</h2>

60 + As with email, SMS automations are essential to nurturing customer relationships at scale. We suggest investing in the following:

61 + •Welcome series for new subscribers

62 + •Abandoned cart recovery texts

63 + •Back-in-stock notifications for popular and/or previously viewed items

64 + •Post-purchase follow ups such as shipping and fulfillment notifications

65 + •VIP/loyalty program messages for your most engaged customers

66 + Of course, one-way communication isn’t the only way to use SMS. Two-way<a>SMS conversations</a>transform texting from a broadcast channel to a relationship-builder. Use them to gather customer preferences, answer FAQs, or create dialogues with VIP customers.

67 + Cookware brand<a>Made In</a>runs a “surround sound” retention program via SMS and email. New subscribers are added to interest-based segments based on how they engage with the automated welcome flow. Made In also uses SMS to re-engage dormant email subscribers.

68 + These efforts have contributed to a<a>26.1% growth in AOV</a>and 66.3% reduction in unsubscribe rate since Made In’s first full quarter with Klaviyo.

69 + <h3>SMS automation spotlight: abandoned cart SMS messages</h3>

70 + Abandoned cart flows are an essential part of ecommerce strategy. 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned,<a>according to the Baymard Institute</a>, and Klaviyo’s SMS marketing research with Recharge found that nearly 1 in 5 (18%) customers prefer receiving abandoned cart notifications via SMS.

71 + <a>Automate these flows</a>through your SMS platform. Send an initial text within a few hours of a customer abandoning their cart, and follow up in another 48 hours. If your SMS subscriber is also subscribed to email, complement SMS outreach with email so you can communicate with customers on the channel they prefer most.

72 + You can also sweeten the deal with incentives like discounts. To protect your margins, don’t include the discount until the last step of your flow, and make the discount limited-time to create a sense of urgency. Or, segment your list to only offer discounts to VIPs who abandon carts, or those abandoning high-value carts.

73 + <h2>SMS personalization strategies for ecommerce and retail</h2>

74 + In 2025, 74% of consumers expect more personalized experiences from brands, according to Klaviyo’s<a>future of consumer marketing report</a>.

75 + <h3>SMS segmentation for ecommerce brands</h3>

76 + Segmentation is the key to meeting personalization expectations. Before going all-in on SMS, make sure you’re set up for success with clearly defined<a>SMS segments</a>that will enable personalization at scale, such as:

77 + • Engagement level:new subscribers and those who have engaged in the past 90 days, subscribers who have engaged in the last 90-150 days, and subscribers who have engaged in the last 150 days

78 + • Location:to promote in-store events, deals, and promotions

79 + • Behavioral triggers:abandoned carts and check-outs

80 + • Product interest:based on browsing and purchase history

81 + • VIP subscribers:your most engaged subscribers who are most likely to buy via SMS

82 + You can use<a>Klaviyo AI</a>to create dynamic segments with less effort that will make every communication feel personal and targeted.

83 + <a>2xist</a>, a men’s underwear brand, used Klaviyo Marketing Analytics to build dynamic RFM segments with associated retention flows that highlight a customer’s past purchases. The segments also form the basis of Meta audiences that see targeted remarketing campaigns. Facebook<a>ROAS has jumped 61% YoY</a>, demonstrating the power of integrating data across platforms.

84 + <h3>VIP programs for SMS subscribers</h3>

85 + Speaking of VIPs: one of the best use cases for personalized SMS marketing is to connect with your<a>VIP customers</a>. Here are some ways leading retail brands leverage SMS for their most engaged, highest-value fans:

86 + •Creating SMS-exclusive<a>VIP offers</a>for retail customers to encourage them to shop online

87 + •Using SMS to enhance loyalty program engagement, such as reminding customers of their points balance, loyalty level, and when they have rewards waiting for them

88 + •Soliciting customer feedback on recent purchases

89 + •Rewarding in-store or online purchases through integrated SMS campaigns

90 + •Providing customer service and support via text

91 + When Ohio-based apparel brand<a>HOMAGE</a>launched their first SMS campaign to promote the exclusive release of their 80s- and 90s-style NFL Starter jackets, they drummed up<a>100 orders in the first hour alone</a>. Ultimately, 87% of SMS customers clicked the in-message link, and 9% of fans placed an order. Even more impressive: the campaign delivered $167 RPR.

92 + <h3>What’s the right SMS marketing cadence?</h3>

93 + Experiment with send times to learn when your customers are most likely to engage with SMS or purchase. According to our SMS marketing research with Recharge, this is when consumers most want to receive text messages from brands-though your customer base may behave differently:

94 + •Evening: 45%

95 + •Afternoon: 25%

96 + •Midday: 13%

97 + •Morning: 9%

98 + •Late night hours: 8%

99 + <h2>Measuring text marketing performance for retail brands</h2>

100 + So you’ve set up your SMS channel, integrated it with your CRM and ecommerce store, and built your first campaigns. How do you tell if all of this isworking?Are you getting the conversions you need?

101 + The answer is simple: measure. Track the following key<a>SMS metrics</a>:

102 + •Click rate

103 + •Conversion rate

104 + •RPR

105 + Compare your performance to<a>industry benchmarks</a>to see how you stack up against your peers. If you find that your performance doesn’t measure up, run A/B tests to optimize your campaigns until you figure out what works.

106 + Make sure you’re tracking ROI, too. To calculate ROI, divide net profit by investment cost. While your specific ROI targets will vary depending on your company and how you use SMS, you should look for this number to increase as you fine-tune your strategy.

107 + Use Klaviyo’s<a>ROI calculator</a>to estimate the return you’d get from investing in SMS.

108 + Remember: Metrics typically associated with email marketing, like open rates, aren’t as applicable to SMS and text message marketing. That’s because most folks open their text messages, even if they don’t engage. Open rate doesn’t really give you much information about a text’s performance.

109 + <h2>Getting started with SMS marketing for your ecommerce store</h2>

110 + To be successful with SMS from day one, follow these<a>SMS marketing tips</a>:

111 + 1. Pick an SMS platform-or better yet, a CRM with SMS built in.

112 + 2. Ask and confirm permission.

113 + 3. Actively build your list.

114 + 4. Make it easy to opt out.

115 + 5. Differentiate email from SMS.

116 + 6. Keep copy short and sweet.

117 + 7. Choose wisely between SMS and MMS.

118 + 8. Limit yourself to one CTA per message.

119 + 9. Personalize with smart segmentation.

120 + 10. Make your SMS subscribers feel special.

121 + 11. Connect on a deeper level.

122 + 12. Find the right texting cadence.

123 + 13. Track your performance-and assume nothing.

124 + As you start to run SMS campaigns, continually optimize your strategy. Experiment with not just content types and automated flows, but cadence, send time, and CTAs. Our complete<a>SMS marketing guide</a>is packed with strategies and tips for how to make the most out of SMS.

125 + Klaviyo SMS gives you data-driven SMS marketing that works seamlessly with all your channels, so it’s easy to send timely, personalized text messages that get tapped. With SMS available in 19 countries within Klaviyo B2C CRM, and powered by Klaviyo Data Platform, it’s easy to combine SMS,<a>email</a>, and<a>mobile app marketing</a>to power a world-class omnichannel experience.

6 <h3>Ready to transform your customer relationships?</h3>

126 <h3>Ready to transform your customer relationships?</h3>

7 Take our B2C CRM readiness assessment to discover your next steps.

127 Take our B2C CRM readiness assessment to discover your next steps.

8 <h3>How to build exceptional customer experiences</h3>

128 <h3>How to build exceptional customer experiences</h3>

9 The ultimate benefit of a CRM is the customer experiences you can create.

129 The ultimate benefit of a CRM is the customer experiences you can create.

10 <h3>How to improve your customer experience for higher CLV</h3>

130 <h3>How to improve your customer experience for higher CLV</h3>

11 A better customer experience should equate to more lifetime value.

131 A better customer experience should equate to more lifetime value.

132 + <h2>Klaviyo comes with all the SMS marketing essentials for your ecommerce business.</h2>

133 +