SMS marketing has a 98% open rate. Not 98% of your best subscribers — 98% of everyone you send to. Compare that to email (20-25% if you are lucky) or social media (2-5% organic reach), and you start to see why the smartest Shopify brands are adding SMS to their marketing stack.
What’s in This Article
But most ecommerce brands either ignore SMS completely or use it the wrong way — blasting discount codes until customers unsubscribe and block their number. The brands making $3-5 per SMS subscriber per month are doing something very different. Here is the playbook.
Why SMS Works So Well for Ecommerce
SMS cuts through the noise in a way no other channel can. The average person checks their phone 96 times per day and reads a text message within 3 minutes of receiving it. Your email might sit in an inbox for hours — or get filtered to promotions and never seen at all. A text gets read almost immediately.
For Shopify stores, this speed matters most for time-sensitive offers. Flash sales, back-in-stock alerts, shipping notifications, and abandoned cart reminders all perform dramatically better via SMS because they reach the customer when the moment still matters.
The conversion rates back this up. SMS campaigns typically convert at 8-12% — roughly 3-5x higher than email campaigns. The catch is that your SMS list will always be smaller than your email list (not everyone opts in to texts), so the two channels complement each other rather than compete.
Building Your SMS List the Right Way
SMS consent is more personal than email consent — people are protective of their phone numbers. You need to earn it with a clear value exchange:
- Pop-up with SMS-specific incentive. Offer something you do not offer via email. “Get 15% off your first order + VIP early access to sales — text only.” This differentiated value gives people a reason to hand over their number.
- Checkout opt-in. Add an SMS consent checkbox during checkout. Customers who have already decided to buy are far more likely to opt in because they trust you with their information. Conversion rate on checkout opt-ins is typically 25-35%.
- Post-purchase text opt-in. After someone receives their order and is happiest with your brand, send a follow-up email inviting them to join your SMS list for exclusive offers. This captures your most engaged customers.
- Keyword campaigns. Run “Text JOIN to [number]” campaigns on social media, packaging inserts, and in-store signage. These work well for brands with a physical presence or strong social following.
Australian privacy law (the Spam Act 2003) requires explicit consent before sending marketing SMS. Always include an opt-out mechanism in every message and honour unsubscribes immediately. Compliance is non-negotiable.
The 5 SMS Flows Every Shopify Store Needs
Just like email, your automated SMS flows will generate more revenue than one-off campaigns. Set these up first:
1. Welcome Flow. When someone opts in, send an immediate text with their discount code and a link to shop. Follow up 24 hours later with a product recommendation or bestseller highlight. Keep it to 2-3 messages max — you are building the relationship, not overwhelming it.
2. Abandoned Cart. Send a text 30-60 minutes after cart abandonment. Keep it short and direct: “Hey [name], you left something in your cart! Complete your order here: [link].” A single well-timed SMS recovers 10-15% of abandoned carts — often outperforming a 3-email sequence.
3. Shipping and Delivery Updates. These are not technically marketing messages, but they are the most opened texts you will send. Use them to build trust and cross-sell: “Your order is out for delivery! While you wait, check out what is new this week: [link].”
4. Post-Purchase Review Request. Send a text 7-10 days after delivery asking for a product review. Include a direct link to the review form. SMS review requests generate 4-6x more reviews than email requests because the barrier to action is lower.
5. Win-Back Flow. If a customer has not purchased in 60-90 days, trigger an SMS with a personalised offer: “We miss you, [name]! Here is 10% off your next order — just for you: [link].” Keep the discount modest and the message personal.
SMS Campaign Strategy: Less Is More
With email, you can send 3-4 times per week and still maintain engagement. SMS is different. Send more than 4-6 texts per month and your unsubscribe rate will spike. Every message needs to justify the interruption.
The best-performing SMS campaigns fall into three categories:
- Flash sales and limited-time offers. The urgency plus the immediacy of SMS is a powerful combination. “24-hour flash sale: 25% off everything. Shop now: [link]. Ends midnight.” These drive 2-3x the revenue of the same offer sent by email alone.
- New product launches and restocks. “It is back! [Product] just restocked — last time it sold out in 48 hours. Grab yours: [link].” Scarcity messaging via SMS creates urgency that email cannot match.
- VIP-exclusive offers. Make your SMS list feel special with offers not available anywhere else. “SMS VIP exclusive: free shipping this weekend. No code needed: [link].” This exclusivity justifies staying subscribed.
Choosing the Right SMS Platform
For Shopify stores, two platforms dominate: Klaviyo SMS and Postscript. If you are already using Klaviyo for email (and you should be), adding their SMS feature is the path of least resistance. Your customer data, segments, and automation triggers all work across both channels without any integration hassle.
Postscript is the specialist option — SMS only, but with deeper features like conversational SMS, AI-assisted responses, and more advanced segmentation for text-specific campaigns. If SMS is going to be a major revenue channel (typically brands doing $500K+ annually), Postscript’s specialist tools justify the additional complexity.
Cost-wise, expect to pay $0.015-0.03 per SMS sent in Australia. A 5,000-subscriber list sending 4 campaigns per month plus automated flows will cost roughly $400-600 AUD per month. If each subscriber generates $3-5 per month in revenue, the ROI is 5-8x.
The Compound Effect: SMS Plus Email
SMS does not replace email — it amplifies it. The most effective retention marketing strategy uses both channels in a coordinated rhythm. Email handles the heavy lifting of education, brand storytelling, and detailed product showcases. SMS handles the time-sensitive nudges and high-urgency moments.
For example, a product launch sequence might look like: email announcement on Monday (detailed product story, multiple images), SMS reminder on Wednesday (“Launching tomorrow — set your alarm”), email on Thursday morning (full launch details), SMS on Thursday afternoon (“Selling fast — 40% sold in 3 hours. Grab yours: [link]”). This dual-channel approach typically generates 40-60% more launch revenue than email alone.
One eCommerce Circle member added SMS to their existing email strategy and saw total owned-channel revenue increase from 24% to 38% of total sales within three months. The SMS list was only 30% the size of their email list but contributed nearly as much revenue per subscriber.
Get Started This Week
Enable SMS in Klaviyo (or sign up for Postscript), add an SMS opt-in to your checkout, and set up two flows: welcome and abandoned cart. That is it for week one. Let those run for 30 days, measure the results, then layer in campaigns and additional flows.
Inside the eCommerce Circle, SMS strategy is part of our retention marketing framework. We help members build coordinated email and SMS programs that maximise lifetime value without annoying customers — because the goal is not just more messages, it is more revenue per subscriber.
If you are doing $10K+ per month and not using SMS, you are ignoring the highest-ROI marketing channel available. Start small, respect the channel, and watch it compound.
