4 Ways to Optimize Your eCommerce Checkout for SMS

From marketer to marketer, SMS is amazing. Insane open rates, crazy click-throughs, and massive return on ad spend — the secret is out on the impact that optimized SMS can make. 

So, here are four ways that you can optimize your checkout to not only grow your SMS list but also regain revenue from checkout abandonment and more. 

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1. SMS Opt-in With Checkout Form

Checkout is a perfect opportunity to ask customers to join your SMS list. If they have made it to checkout, they have made it most of the way through the customer journey. So your products and brand are resonating with them. This energy translates into high engagement and commitment at purchase. 

By adding SMS opt-ins to the natural flow of your checkout forms, you can reach high conversion rates for your SMS list. 

For example, Shopify merchants can easily add an opt-in option at the end of the Contact Information checkout form just before going on to shipping. Your customer will see this option during checkout:

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Another seamless place to add SMS for Shopify merchants is under the shipping details at the bottom of your checkout page, which will look like this: 

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💡 Learn more about how to add SMS opt-in to Shopify checkout here

Adding SMS opt-ins to your checkout is a seamless and natural way to quickly grow your SMS subscriber list, which allows your brand to nurture customers into loyal fans and increase your customer lifetime value.

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2. Abandoned Checkout Follow-Up 

It's disappointing when customers decide to abandon ship. From a marketing perspective, you have put all that work into gaining a customer's interest to have them get so close to converting, but not quite. 

Unfortunately, this isn’t a rare problem for eCommerce brands. A study revealed that close to 70% of online shoppers do not complete purchases, leading to a $260 billion loss in the US and the EU. That number goes even higher for mobile shoppers at more than 85%.

This is where the 98% open rates of SMS can help brands regain lost revenue from abandoned carts. 

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Conversions with Live Agents 

“What we’ve seen with the dramatic shift in customer behavior is consumers spending time on their mobile devices. This includes browsing and shopping. What we’ve seen success with is a lot of these automations and the scalable technology that allows a brand to reach out to these customers through SMS. What’s been lacking though is this human element,” said Rev Reddy, CEO at Voyage SMS.

This human element is why one way to successfully convert bottom-of-funnel customers is to use live agents to create 1:1 SMS conversations. For example, live agents from the LiveRecover by Voyage SMS platform: 

• Send tailored, personalized texts to customers 30 minutes after every cart is abandoned to understand why they didn’t buy.
• Are trained and have the resources to answer all the common questions that make customers hesitate—such as shipping, fit or measurement, and other product-specific queries.
• Are empowered to offer a small discount, typically in the form of free shipping, to seal the deal.

The results from live agents speak for themselves. In just 6 months, one popular online deals site recovered 6.4x more abandoned checkouts (which translated into over $289k in revenue) by combining human-in-the-loop SMS with automated SMS.

🔎 Read more about this online deals site here.

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Automated Follow Up 

While automated follow-ups may lack the nuances of live agents, SMS can still be a powerful tool to follow up with shopping cart abandonment. Follow up with a customer with a small discount code, a Click-to-Buy link, or a customized text based on the products in their cart could be just the thing to push customers to finish their purchase. 

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3. Opt-in With Modals at Checkout

Exit-intent pop-up modals that offer a small discount in exchange for customers signing up for SMS is another great way to encourage customers to complete their purchases and grow your SMS list. 

Modal: A modal is a pop-up window that draws a user’s attention to specific text or images, used in this context to ask for a customer’s email or phone number. It is common practice for eCommerce brands to have a welcome modal on their website for new visitors, including a discount or special offer to incentivize them to subscribe to their marketing list.

💡 Check out Voyage SMS Glossary for More Terms and Insights

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4. Customer Support Through SMS

Lastly, SMS can be used to connect your agents and customers. Providing a phone number for customers at check out to text with their questions is a perfect way to convert and squash any doubts that could lead to abandoned carts. You can display a CTA along the lines of “Have any questions? Text us at 123-123-1234” on your checkout and even product pages. 

SMS provides real-time connection and high open rates allowing you to resolve problems and answer questions quickly while being more flexible than live chats.

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Implementing SMS to Your Checkout 

By creating a checkout that is built with SMS in mind you will not only help gain revenue in the moment but also grow your SMS list for future conversions. Focusing on both customers present on your site and your customer’s lifetime value will set your brand up for continuous revenue from delighted customers. 

Voyage is an SMS platform that seeks to help brands foster thoughtful, authentic interactions with their customers and build community. We understand brands measure performance not only in today's reach, ROI, and bottom line but also in the sustainable health of customer relationships and experiences.

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To see what the most powerful SMS marketing and message commerce platform in the world can do for your brand, request a demo today! 

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