From managers to associates, suppliers to your sales team, and partners to customers, the range of people who need to share information in a retail environment can easily become overwhelming. SMS reminders are a simple and efficient way to automate and streamline much of this communication. These messages are versatile and convenient and can simplify work for retailers in everything from advertising to internal communication.
What Is an SMS?
SMS stands for short message service. An SMS is a short message of up to 160 characters sent from one phone to another. Adding a photo, emoji, or website link to an SMS turns it into an MMS, or multimedia messaging service. Both SMS and MMS are the technical names for what’s commonly called a text.
Advantages of Using SMS Reminders
SMS reminders have several key benefits.
Visibility
SMS reminders are a convenient way to communicate with your team and customers. You can use SMS for both logistical and advertising communications. The average person spends nearly three hours a day on their smartphone and checks their phone more than 2600 times a day. This means that your customer is much more likely to see an appointment reminder that comes as a text message than one that comes in an email. It’s important to talk to customers where they are. For many customers, especially younger ones, that’s on their smartphones.
Click-through
This applies to marketing messages as well. Customers open about 20% of marketing emails but as many as 98% of marketing texts. Even better, customers click through SMS communications more as well. SMS marketing messages have a 19% average click-through rate, compared to only 2.5% for emails. Since these messages are always short and usually simple, you’ll get great results with minimal effort.
Low saturation
SMS isn’t an overly saturated marketing channel yet, so it’s easier to gain a competitive edge here than it would be in social media or email marketing. Around 61% of retailers haven’t started using SMS marketing yet, so you have plenty of space to stand out. Your customers and prospective customers might be overwhelmed by marketing emails, but they most likely aren’t getting many advertising texts yet. This means there’s a good chance they’ll be interested in yours.
What Types of SMS Reminders Can You Send?
SMS communications are flexible and convenient. You can opt for SMS reminders in several categories. First, they’re a great marketing method for customers at any stage of the sales funnel. Offering a keyword for new customers to text to you and receive a discount code is a great way to attract new customers. Once someone has made a purchase, you can use SMS messaging for transactional communication. This includes shipping and order updates and other similar messages.
If a customer has a problem, they can ask customer service questions through SMS. All of this is more convenient and, therefore, a more satisfying experience for your customers. It’s also a great way to stay in touch with repeat customers. Once someone has made a purchase, you should have their phone number so you can send messages when you have sales or new product launches. These are simple ways to keep customers interested and encourage them to buy from you again. These messages are more likely to stand out, and your customers are more likely to read them promptly than messages sent through other channels.
SMS reminders are also excellent for communications with established customers and clients that go beyond advertising campaigns. If your business is service-based and requires setting appointments, SMS is a great tool for both scheduling and appointment reminders. You can also use them for internal communication with your team. Just like your customers, your employees are more likely to see an automatic meeting reminder that comes through as a text message than an email or calendar alert, especially if they’re often away from their desks. This is a good way to handle other logistical updates as well, like letting a salesperson know quickly when a supplier is experiencing a delay.
What Can Your Retail Operation Do With Apptoto SMS?
Apptoto helps you communicate with your team, your partners, and your customers. We’ll help you stay organized and stay in touch so you can avoid wasting time. This includes:
- Appointment reminders for your customers, which help reduce late arrivals and no-shows by 90%
- Customizable booking pages, which let your clients easily schedule their appointments
- Calendar messaging, which lets you automate and preschedule SMS communications
- Targeted messaging campaigns to keep your customers engaged
- Taking payments from clients and automatically tracking these transactions
If your retail business could use these tactics to make communication smoother and easier, contact Apptoto to start your free trial today.
