SMS Marketing for Shopify: Tools and Tips to Get the Maximum ROI

A whopping 98% of texts are opened, and most are read within minutes. So, if you're running a Shopify store and you're not yet using SMS marketing, you might be missing out on a goldmine of opportunities. 

However, by now, you've probably stumbled upon many SMS marketing apps. Choosing the right one can be a headache. Because you're not just looking for any tool; you need one that seamlessly integrates with Shopify, boosts customer interaction, suits your budget, and ultimately drives sales. 

In this detailed guide, we'll break down the best SMS marketing apps for Shopify in 2024, focusing on features, pricing, and user-friendliness. 

Plus, we'll explore how Plivo CX, with its top-tier omnichannel capabilities, can be your gateway to mastering customer engagement across all platforms. 

Let's dive in.

SMS Marketing for Shopify: An Overview 

What is SMS Marketing for Shopify? 

In the US, people check their mobiles 144 times a day. Leveraging such a high-impact channel, SMS marketing for Shopify is a popular sales tactic. Brands send messages directly to their customers' mobiles to drive better engagement. 

As per Validity Research data, 45% of consumers already prefer sales and promotional messages from brands, which makes it a better channel to engage customers. Also, SMS channel works seamlessly with Shopify allowing you to share messages like abandoned cart reminders effortlessly, restock alerts, shipping updates, flash sales, and more.

For example, imagine one of your customers was about to buy a shirt but abandoned it at the checkout. After 30 minutes, they will see an engaging message from your brand, with an image of that shirt and discount codes. They might be tempted to visit your website and check out the offer—maybe they even buy.

That’s how SMS marketing for Shopify works. It nudges your customers to check out products and offers to propel the purchase intent. 

Benefits of SMS Marketing for E-commerce 

Here’s how SMS marketing for Shopify benefits your business:

1. Rekindle old customer relationships

Recurring customers can make or break ecommerce brands, and SMS marketing is the best way to bring old customers back to your website. 

56% of customers have been reminded about a brand they’d forgotten due to a text message they received from that brand.

2. Build customer loyalty

Financial incentives and discounts are the number one reason customers sign up for SMS. You can send personalized messages with discount codes for their birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions to keep customers loyal to your brand. 

3. High open rates

53.5 % of business owners and marketing managers in the US said they started using text marketing because it offered higher open and click-through rates than other marketing channels. 

4. Increased conversions

As per Statista data, 73% of the US population has made online purchases from their mobile. Since people are already shopping from mobile, SMS nudges them further through offers, updates, and reminders to increase their likelihood of buying. 

Who Should Use SMS Marketing?

SMS marketing works well for most ecommerce businesses, but here are our favorite picks:

1. Retail and apparel

Use SMS marketing for promotional offers, product launches, flash sales, and order updates to drive more sales and keep customers engaged.

2. Food and beverage

Restaurants, food delivery services, and grocery stores can use SMS to send order updates, delivery notifications, and special offers, enhancing the customer experience.

3. Travel and hospitality

Hotels, airlines, and travel agencies can use SMS for booking confirmations, check-in reminders, and special deals, improving customer communication and loyalty.

4. Beauty and wellness

Salons, spas, and beauty product retailers can use SMS for appointment reminders, product recommendations, and promotional offers to increase customer retention and sales.

5. Home and lifestyle

Furniture retailers and home decor stores can use SMS for order updates, personalized product recommendations, and exclusive discounts.

6. Automotive and spare parts

Auto parts retailers, car dealerships, and service centers can use SMS for appointment reminders, service updates, and special offers, improving customer service and loyalty.

7. Subscription-based services

Businesses offering subscription boxes, online streaming services, or software subscriptions can use SMS to send payment reminders, new content notifications, and exclusive deals to subscribers.

8. Online marketplaces

E-commerce platforms and online marketplaces can use SMS for order updates, seller notifications, and promotional campaigns.

Top SMS Marketing Apps for Shopify 

Selection Criteria

With so many SMS marketing apps for Shopify, finding the right one can be overwhelming. Let's narrow it down – let’s review what to look for in the best options. 

It should have the following:

• Low learning curve and intuitive user experience
• Affordable prices but a high-quality delivery network
• AI to automate creative tasks and create hyper-personalized campaigns
• Segmentation options to categorize the audience based on their behavior and characteristics
• Triggers to send messages that customers want based on their actions and events
• A free trial

4 SMS Marketing Apps for Your Business

1. Omnisend

Omnisend is an e-commerce marketing automation platform that facilitates the creation and distribution of emails, SMS messages, and push notifications.

Key Features

• Create branded, shoppable emails with images and customizable discount codes.
• Build campaigns with a drag-and-drop campaign builder that comes with dynamic content blocks specifically designed for e-commerce stores.
• Leverage customer data like purchase history to create segments based on metrics like average order value and recency.
• Access sales dashboards to track campaign reports, store revenue, click maps, and more to identify top-performing email templates for reuse.
• Access omnichannel marketing capabilities to run email, SMS, web notification, Facebook ads, MMS, and Google ad campaigns from one platform.

Pros:

• Friendly customer support (link)
• Easy, drag-and-drop campaign builder 

Cons:

• You don’t get segment-based reports.  (Link)
• Having the Omnisend plugin activated on your live site and copying it to a staging environment risks overwriting the live site's URL with the staging URL, potentially breaking existing automation and email campaigns tied to the live URL. (link)
• AI writing is only available to create the email subject line.

Pricing 

• Basic plan: Free
• Standard: $16
• Pro: $59

2. Klaviyo

SMS marketing platform Klaviyo is designed to conduct personalized and timely communication with customers across multiple channels.

Key Features

• Enjoy omnichannel marketing capabilities, including SMS, emails, push notifications, and review management.
• Segment customers based on specific purchases, discount code usage, and predicted customer lifetime value, leveraging historical data, APIs, and native integrations.
• Customize pre-built flow templates with branding options and trigger-based automation for timely customer engagement.
• Monitor campaign performance with marketing dashboards containing performance metrics across channels and segments.
• Forecasting the next order date, lifetime value, average time between orders, and churn risk with predictive analytics.
• Personalize page content, pricing, and promotions based on visitor history, behavior, and preferences.

Pros

• Predictive analytics 
• AI customer segmentation

Cons

• Steep learning curve; not beginner-friendly (link)
• Subpar customer service (link)
• Unnecessary features in some plans (link)

Pricing 

• Starter: Free
• Email: $45/month
• Email and SMS: $60/month

3. Postscript

Postscript is designed to help businesses promote their products and engage with customers through text messaging.

Key Features

• Collect new phone numbers and emails with customizable pop-ups that align with brand aesthetics and offer incentives.
• Create unlimited text-to-join keywords for tracking opt-ins across various marketing channels.
• Integrate online and offline interactions through unique QR codes for product packaging, signage, and physical locations. It helps you convert in-person engagements into valuable SMS subscribers.
• Access to over 65 trigger events and more than 45 segmentation filters to create SMS campaigns and automation through an intuitive Flow Builder.
• Use opt-in forms to collect SMS subscribers at crucial touchpoints, including checkout pages on popular platforms like Shopify, Recharge, and Carthook.

Pros:

• Intuitive platform (link)
• Offline lead generation with QR codes 
• Text-to-join keywords 

Cons:

• Requires a learning curve (link)
• Only Spotify integration 
• On-site pop-ups can be glitchy (link)

Pricing 

• Starter: Free ($0.015/SMS, $0.045/MMS + Carrier fees)
• Growth: $100/month ($0.01/SMS, $0.03/MMS + Carrier fees)
• Professional: $500/month ($0.007/SMS, $0.024/MMS + Carrier fees)
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

4. Attentive

Attentive is an AI-powered marketing platform that leverages SMS to facilitate connections with target audiences.

Key Features

• Optimize message delivery time with ‘smart sending’ and ‘quiet hours’ functionality to avoid sending messages during busy or nighttime hours.
• Enable real-time, personalized customer engagement with the LiveSMS feature directly on the website.
• Build a comprehensive profile for each customer with an ‘attentive customer passport’ that contains contact information, activities, and attributes.
• Access insights into list growth, message revenue, customer engagement, and campaign performance with intelligent dashboards.
• Customize your own kick-off plan to streamline the launch of SMS marketing campaigns.

Pros:

• A revenue calculator to forecast revenue based on existing traffic, average order value, monthly traffic, and conversion rates. 
• AI-assisted live agents to reply to customers 
• Launching email campaigns takes minutes (link)

Cons:

• The email design is glitchy. (link)
• Analytics need more refinement (link)

Pricing 

• Pricing isn’t available on the website.

What is Plivo CX?

Plivo CX is a cloud-based omnichannel contact center solution that empowers small and medium businesses to deliver exceptional customer service across various channels.
This robust platform combines AI-powered live chat, voice, SMS, email, and WhatsApp, creating a seamless experience for customers and service agents. 

With Plivo CX, businesses can effortlessly acquire, engage, and deliver exceptional service across all customer touchpoints.

Plivo CX Features

• Unified Agent Desktop: Centralize customer interactions for improved agent efficiency and service consistency.
• Self-Service Chatbot & IVR: Provide instant customer support with AI-powered chatbots and interactive voice response systems.
• Drag & Drop Workflow Builder: Design and automate personalized customer journeys across communication channels.
• AI-Powered Message Writing & Timing: Create campaigns faster with AI-assisted messaging and send-time optimization.
• Built-in Channels: Engage customers via SMS, voice calls, live chat, WhatsApp, and email from one platform.‍
• Global Reach & Reliable Delivery: Expand your messaging campaigns internationally with reliable delivery.‍
• Segmentation & Lists: Target the right audience with segmentation tools and managed opt-in/opt-out lists.‍
• Automatic URL Shortening: Keep messages concise and clear

Plivo CX’s Limitations

• Due to the nature of its advanced features and capabilities, users may need some time to understand and fully tap into the potential of Plivo CX’s features
• Businesses in highly regulated industries may need to still monitor and evaluate regulatory requirements for their sector.

Plivo CX: Going Beyond Basic SMS 

Let’s see how these capabilities ensure Plivo CX goes beyond traditional SMS, offering a sophisticated toolset for comprehensive, multi-channel customer engagement.

• Marketing Automation:
  Automate and personalize SMS campaigns using triggers based on customer actions. Create dynamic workflows that adapt to customer behaviors, enhancing both engagement and efficiency.
• Multi-Channel Engagement:
  Sync SMS seamlessly with email, web push, and social media for a cohesive communication strategy. Plivo CX’s integrations with platforms like Shopify, Salesforce, and Zendesk enable a plug-and-play solution that unifies customer experiences across channels.
• Advanced Analytics:
  Access detailed analytics to monitor and refine campaign performance. Evaluate engagement and conversion metrics to tailor future strategies and maximize impact.
• Seamless Shopify Integration:
  Easily integrate with Shopify to synchronize data and automate communications directly within the Shopify environment, including order updates and promotional alerts.

Free Trial

Jumpstart your SMS marketing today with Plivo CX's free trial–no credit card is needed to get started. 

Book a demo to start a free trial right away. 

Choose The Best SMS Marketing App for Your Shopify Brand

SMS marketing is a potent tool for customer engagement and business growth. But to harness its full potential, you need a powerful SMS marketing app as well. 

Plivo CX delivers a complete SMS marketing solution for your Shopify brand. Drive higher ROI through streamlined campaign setup, content creation, and targeted customer engagement.

Sign up for Plivo CX to achieve maximum ROI from your next email campaign. 

Book a Demo right away!