After a record-breaking 2019 holiday season, learn how to keep your brand’s momentum going throughout the year with personalized mobile messaging.
This past holiday season, more people than ever turned to their smartphones to complete their holiday purchases. Mobile drove a record 68% of e-commerce traffic between Thanksgiving and Christmas—more than any other device—and ultimately fueled an impressive 18% year-over-year increase in U.S. e-commerce sales.
While the holiday season is over, the retail industry’s growth is not. Moody’s projects that retail sales will continue to increase at an average rate of 3-4% throughout 2020.
So how do you capitalize on the momentum you gained during the holiday season to power strong performance, encourage loyal, repeat customers, and drive revenue throughout 2020? By engaging with your audience where they spend the majority of their time—their smartphones. Text messaging is one effective strategy to meet shoppers on their phones and deliver exceptional, helpful experiences at scale.
Create frictionless mobile commerce experiences
Smartphones have made completing everyday tasks easier than ever—whether it be communicating with friends, looking for directions, or searching for recommendations. Consumers expect the same ease of use as they shop on their phones.
It’s no longer an added bonus to be mobile-first—it’s expected. 67% of consumers choose a brand based on the availability of mobile coupons, and 64% choose a brand based on the site’s mobile accessibility.
Creating a frictionless experience is essential to capturing and maintaining the attention of your loyal, mobile-first shoppers. Due to convenience, customers appreciate the opportunity to interact with brands via their smartphones. Send personalized text messages—like exclusive limited-time offers and product updates—directly to your opted-in subscribers. End with a direct link to the product or event being promoted. Subscribers will appreciate having all the information they need in one place, making it convenient for them to take action.
Want to learn how top brands like Neiman Marcus and Williams Sonoma use text messaging to reduce friction and drive immediate action?
Bridge online and in-store experiences
The rapid rise of mobile has drastically changed the way consumers shop. Because people bring their smartphones with them everywhere they go, shoppers no longer consider e-commerce and retail as two separate and distinct experiences.
The next time you visit a store, look around. You’ll likely see shoppers researching reviews on their phones or accessing mobile coupons to redeem at the cash register. They’re merging their online and in-store behaviors by using their smartphones throughout the customer lifecycle.
84% of shoppers said they use their phone while making in-store purchases, especially to find deals, redeem coupons, and compare prices. Communicating with subscribers via text messaging is an intuitive solution for bridging the gap between online and in-store experiences.
For example, send text messaging subscribers exclusive offers that they can redeem in-store or online. By interacting with them where they spend the majority of their time—their text message inbox—you’ll know your offer is seen immediately. And because they get to choose where and how they’d like to redeem your offer, shoppers are far more likely to convert.
Power engagement with automated messages
Creating personalized, one-to-one relationships with mobile subscribers is key to keeping your shoppers engaged throughout the entire year. Text messaging is a direct performance marketing channel that empowers marketers to send personalized triggered messages at scale. These automated messages drive incremental revenue while ensuring that your mobile subscribers receive highly personalized messaging they’ll love. The best part? Once you’ve set these messages, they send automatically—meaning no extra work for you.
Send helpful, individualized reminders and updates to engage text messaging subscribers throughout the customer lifecycle—like when their abandoned online shopping cart is waiting for them. With 75% of consumers on e-commerce websites abandoning a cart prior to purchasing, this type of automated message can help you recover otherwise lost revenue.
Want to learn how fashion retailer Rainbow Shops uses text messaging to recover abandoned online shopping carts, driving 240x+ ROI?
As consumers return to their usual shopping behaviors after the busy holiday season, marketers need powerful strategies to keep them engaged while capitalizing on the momentum gained over the past few months. Personalized mobile messaging is an effective channel that drives incremental revenue throughout the year while building valuable, one-to-one relationships with subscribers that don’t change with the seasons.
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