Consumers flock to online shopping because the experience is seamless and can be done from the convenience of anywhere with an internet connection. What can make eCommerce an even more successful and profitable channel? SMS!
How can your eCommerce site use SMS for customer experience?ORDER STATUS
Your buyers want regular updates on their purchases - it's part of the online shopping experience to be able to track the package from the initial purchase all the way until it's sitting on their doorstep. Using SMS, companies can:
- Send a simple text each time the status changes, alerting customers in real time.
- Build excitement for the shipment through delivery notifications and shipping updates
- SMS can improve customer relationships by being the reliable source of communication they're looking for.
FOLLOW UP
67% of all shopping carts are abandoned during the sales process. 67% seems extremely high, and SMS is a simple way to reduce that percentage on your own site. Send shoppers a follow up text that simply says, "Your shopping cart is hot! Don't forget to check out so you don't miss out on your items."
To further entice shoppers, throw in a 10% off discount code for finishing their purchase and shopping with your company.
OFFERS & DISCOUNTS
The most popular use case for SMS and arguably the most successful - offers, discounts, and special promos. This can include anything from a simple "We marked down all holiday merchandise up to 75% off!" or more personalized messages, like "Hey Jesse, since you purchased a sweater last fall, I wanted to let you know that Friday - Sunday we're offering 30% all sweaters this season. Don't miss out!"
Sending bulk messages with offers and discounts is a foolproof way to build interest in your company and push traffic to your site. Sending personalized offers will make your customers feel appreciated and important which, as you know, builds trust and rapport.
HELPFUL ALERTS
Send helpful alerts to customers like payment reminders, pickup or delivery updates, restock announcements, and more. These types of messages can be scheduled in bulk so it's not a huge effort for your team to interact with customers - it's a simple task of writing the text, selecting your list of recipients, and hitting send!
GENERAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT
Running an online shop is a huge job - and customer support is one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle. You need a team in place who can:
- Interact with customers
- Answer product questions
- Assist with basic customer service tasks
- Perform some sales work as necessary
This is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using SMS for your eCommerce site. There are tons of use cases that make it easy to use SMS, catered specifically to your business goals and site functionality. Stay tuned for more on using text to communicate with customers!
