In the competitive landscape of retail, SMS marketing emerges as a game-changer. More than just a tool for boosting sales, text message marketing serves as a multifaceted platform that enhances brand loyalty, elevates awareness, and streamlines customer service.

With Texting Base's stack of SMS marketing features, retail stores can instantly unlock the full potential of text messaging.

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What is text marketing for retail?

Retail SMS marketing is the strategic use of SMS messages to engage customers, promote products, and drive sales. By sending targeted texts, retailers can offer exclusive discounts, announce new arrivals, and even provide personalized shopping experiences.

This direct and immediate form of communication not only boosts customer loyalty but also enhances overall brand awareness. With high open and response rates, text marketing has become an indispensable tool for modern retailers seeking to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

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Diverse Strategies in Retail SMS Marketing

  • Promotional Texts: These messages are designed to inform customers about sales, discounts, special offers, or new product launches.

  • Transactional Texts: These are automated messages sent to customers after a specific transaction or interaction, such as order confirmations, shipping notifications, or purchase receipts.

  • Loyalty Programs and Rewards: SMS can be used to update customers about their loyalty points, offer exclusive deals to members, or remind them of available rewards they can redeem.

  • Mass Texting: This involves sending a single message to a large group of customers simultaneously. Unlike personalized promotional or transactional texts, mass texting is generally used for broad announcements that are applicable to the entire customer base.

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Benefits of SMS marketing for retailers

There are various benefits of using text marketing for retail stores. It helps service customers better and keep them updated about store upgrades and a lot more. 

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  • Increase repeat business by providing customers and leads with promotional texts, new arrivals sms and the restock of their frequent items.

  • Give your customers updates about the delivery of their purchase.

  • Strengthen customer engagement by instant or using automated texting for better service.

  • Send promotional text messages about offers and coupons to prospects to increase sales.

  • Customize your messages according to your target audience to provide a personal touch to your marketing efforts.

  • Increase brand awareness and build a larger customer base via text message promotions.

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how to use sms for retail

Provide support to your customers instantly

Send updates about introducing new products

Help customers track their orders and deliveries

Send customers personalised offers and discount coupons

Follow up to make sure your customers are happy and take feedback

Reach out to old customers and new

Inform customers about restocking their frequent purchases

Provide your customers instant support for any of their issues

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(855) 397 6679
Hello Johanna,

We are sorry to hear that some of the items you received got damaged during delivery.

Your request is processed and we’re sending you a new package shortly

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(855) 397 6679
Hey Eileen,

We recently launched a new line of breads by Baker’s Dozen.

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Click on the link below to place your order now!

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(855) 397 6679
Hello Jinny,

Our delivery executive has picked up your order and will be reaching your location in 25 minutes. Please make sure someone is there to receive the order.

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(855) 397 6679
Hello Simon,

We are here with a beautiful offer for you this christmas. On orders above $30, get an instant discount of 40%, upto $10, for this week full of music, food and fine wine.

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(855) 397 6679
Good Evening Catherine,

Thank you so much for placing your order with us. Could you please take a moment to let us know how you like our products and service, to help us serve you better.

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(855) 397 6679
Hey Rebecca,

Thank you for visiting us at our store. We hope you had a great time. You can now place a home delivery order with us anytime. Click on the link to view our products, and place your order now.

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(855) 397 6679
Hey Hank,

We have restocked our shelves with your favorite products. Click on the link below and place your order before it is too late.

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(855) 397 6679
Hello, Sean!

We’re delighted to hear you’re ordering from us again. We understand you are facing issues using your coupon code. Please provide me with the code, I’ll apply the same to your order instantly.

Provide support to your customers instantly.

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Send updates about introducing new products.

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Help customers track their orders and deliveries.

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Send customers personalised offers and discount coupons.

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Follow up to make sure your customers are happy and take feedback.

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Reach out to old customers and new.

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Inform customers about restocking their frequent purchases.

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Provide your customers instant support for any of their issues.

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Best practices for retail text messages

With SMS marketing for your retail stores you can send promotional texts to advertise new sales, transactional messages to notify customers of new products and restocking and business messages to provide customer service via messaging. But with the benefits of text messaging comes a lot of responsibility too. 

While giving your customers necessary information about your retail store, you have to be professional but also a little personal. Understand the issues of the customer and their needs to provide them with suitable solutions. Analyse buying preferences and patterns of customers to always provide them with the right products every time.

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tips for Building Your Retail SMS Subscriber List

Growing a robust SMS subscriber list is crucial for the success of your retail SMS marketing campaign. Here's how you can effectively build and maintain your list:

getting started with retail sms marketing

To make the best of the the Texting Base tool you first have to follow these simple steps to get started.

1.

Sign up for Texting Base

Sign up for Texting Base for free for 14 days. After that, you can choose the plan that best fits your needs.

2.

Migrate your current contact list

Don’t lose the progress you have already made. Texting Base makes it simple to upload your existing contact list so you can keep building your text marketing strategy without having to start from scratch.

3.

Build your retail store text message scripts

Save time in the future by spending some time working on your retail business messages. You can always customize any text you send, but having templates for common interactions saves you hours of work every week.

4.

Choose your campaign keyword

Your campaign keyword is the phrase or single word that your prospects can use to opt into your contact list via text message. For your retail store, this word could be the name of your business or even something catchy, such as “RETAIL SMS”

5.

Get the word out

Once you have chosen your campaign keyword, it’s time to let prospects know they can opt into your SMS contact list and place orders and get other helpful information. You can get the word out by sending out a mass email, adding the campaign keyword to your website, posting the keyword on your social media platforms and simply telling everyone you meet.

6.

Start sending you retail business messages

As your customer base grows, you need to make sure you can make them all know that you are always there to assist them. Texting Base makes that part easy. Automate replies and texts about order information and more with our texting platform.

Helpful resources:

SMS marketing guide
Learn the Laws of SMS marketing
Use creative and unique SMS campaigns to inspire others
Use power of SMS marketing to grow your business
10 Killer Templates for Retail SMS Marketing
Make use of set SMS templates for servicing customers better
Be clear, simple and concise with SMS marketing
Market and promote your Retail Store using text messages

Retail store text messaging templates

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Good Evening [Insert name] We’re sorry to hear your order was incorrect. We have processed your request with the [delivery app] and a delivery executive should be there shortly to pick it up and give you yours.

Hey [Insert name] We saw you recently shopped with us. Please take out 5 minutes of your time sometime and help us serve you better. In the link below you can let us know what you think.

Hi [Insert name][Store name] has come up with a new line of [product name]. Click on the link below to view your options and place your order now. [Insert link]
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Hello [Insert Name], Thank you for ordering from [Stores’s Name]. We have received your order and your food is now being packed. Will we notify you as soon as your food is ready and on its way.

Hi [Insert name] Hurray! Your order is packed and ready to go sooner than expected. Please make sure someone is at the store, in the next 2 hours, to collect your order.

Hey [Insert name] We at [Store name] are offering you a discount of [percent] on all our groceries, just for today. Place your order now to not miss out on this beautiful offer!
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Laws for sending retail text messages :

As a retail store when you’re reaching out to your customers you need to make sure of certain things and follow some guidelines to not become overbearing for them. Make sure you never get flagged due to that and have a consistent way of communicating. 

Learn more about to create text message campaigns for all the customers of your store.

More about SMS marketing

Here is what you need to include in your texts to stay compliant

  • Make sure you only send information related to the client's order, likes and offers specific to them.

  • Always provide the customers with clear options of how to opt out of offer messages when required.

  • Make sure clients know their address and payment information is safe with you.

Get started texting today

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