It may be the most wonderful time of the year for some, but for ecommerce companies, the holidays are what makes or breaks their year. Using SMS effectively can help catapult sales to new heights and help turn a good year into a great year.
Here are six ways retailers are using SMS and other text messaging applications this holiday season.
Targeted SMS Promotions
If you’re sending out Christmas SMS messages, you typically already know something about your recipients. They may have opted in to your list while making a purchase, signing up for a promotion, or trying to participate in a contest.
The data point, as well as any others that you have captured during the customer lifetime, is instructive in developing your SMS holiday campaign. For customers that have a sales history with your store, tailor custom messages that include things you already know they are interested in. For example, if you know customers enjoy skiing, you can create promotions for skiing equipment or other winter sport activities.
Customers who signed up for a promotion or contest generally reached that page through some type of tracked activity. Harvest that data to create compelling offers that will drive them back to your site.
Innovative Payment Tools
Text messaging has become an alternative to credit cards. Merchants are accepting payments using buttons and other tools through SMS, WhatsApp, Viber, RCS, and other text message channels.
These convenient buttons, which are usually connected to a payment mechanism on the phone, make it easy for customers to pay for merchandise without having them to find their wallet and make a payment.
Recent surveys have found that 35% of customers would prefer to pay by text, and that number increases to 62% among people under 35. However, only 4% of businesses accept payment over text message. This creates a tremendous opportunity for merchants who invest in the technology.
Automate Cart Abandonment Messages
Abandoned carts are disheartening to ecommerce retailers. Not only did the sale not go through, but oftentimes merchandise in the cart can’t be sold.
Automating cart abandonment messages can help save the sale. A simple message reminding users that they forgot something in their cart can be enough to get them back on the site and complete the sale.
Aggressive merchants can go one step further, offering special incentives or discounts to customers who return to the site and complete their sale.
Post-Sale Promotions through SMS
The sale may be complete, which means it’s time for you to take another bite of the apple. Follow up on sales a short satisfaction survey, and once they respond, continue to develop the relationship.
Create additional promotional SMS campaigns, encouraging your customers to come back for additional purchases. By creating a 3-4 message cycle, you can continually engage customers.
These SMS incentives can help build loyalty, band recognition, and transform occasional shoppers into power users of your site. Consider promoting bundled merchandise, or offer promotions that increase the savings based on the size of the shopping cart.
Example Sequence
After the sale, send the following message
Thanks for buying from us today. Did you enjoy your experience?
Once they respond with a yes, send this message out right away.
I’m glad you had a great experience. Let us know if there is anything else we can do for you.
If you don’t get any response to your second message, that’s OK. After the item has been shipped, send another message.
Just wanted to let you know your items shipped today. Have a great day.
You can close the campaign with one more message after the merchandise was delivered
Your items should have been delivered today. You’re welcome to come back anytime. If you visit our site before {two week date}, take an extra {discount} off your purchase.
Limited Time Exclusive SMS Offers
Everyone loves a special deal just for them, and people are motivated by deadlines. Combine the two with a compelling holiday offer just for members of your SMS list. Let your customers know that if they act fast, they can get exclusive savings on their favorite merchandise.
These holiday SMS campaigns are proven effective and will help turn this holiday season into once for the ages.
Time’s running out. Talk to us to see how MessageWhiz can help you sell more this holiday season
