The spread of coronavirus has had an unprecedented and unpredictable impact on digital commerce. And after following the data closely for nearly three months, we’ve noticed that shoppers have been permanently moving their purchasing behavior from omnichannel to pure eCommerce.

What does this mean? That now is a good time to engage with current and prospective customers as they shift their behavior online. And considering 56% of consumers have been using their cell phone more since COVID-19 began, retailers must pivot their marketing strategies to meet their customers in their new medium of choice: SMS.

SMS serves as a complementary marketing channel to email. Email thrives for new product discovery, and the Gmail promotions tab has effectively become the new mall. SMS fits in well deeper in the funnel to encourage that last step to conversion through messaging like abandoned cart reminders, price drop notifications, and low stock alerts.

In fact, SMS marketing opens a new channel for retailers looking to boost eCommerce revenue to offset the losses due to COVID-19 and re-engage with loyal customers.

Endless segmentation opportunities

Many brands that employ SMS tactics tend to treat it as a batch-and-blast opportunity. This shouldn’t be the case, especially considering that SMS offers the same segmentation capabilities that you’re currently implementing in your email marketing campaigns.

When running messaging across SMS, you can target consumers by segments like product interest, gender, purchase volume, LTV value, and more. Taking advantage of these will be pivotal to maximizing your revenue.

Supply chain messaging

As retail continues to get back on its feet, one of the easiest ways to increase conversion rates is to make it readily apparent that you as a company have the supply and you’re able to ship.

Sites like Amazon are on shipping delays for certain items. If you have the inventory, now is a great time to highlight this availability and immediate shipping capabilities — all while building brand loyalty. Take advantage of the 100 percent open rates that SMS offers by sending messages calling out these facts.

Increase in revenue

When it comes to SMS, the real reason you should be using this channel now is that the revenue truly speaks for itself. In fact, during our pilot phase, we saw a 7-10 percent increase in online revenue come from SMS. But in a recent poll we took from our audience on Marketing Pulse: Live, only about a quarter of the e-commerce marketers watching said they’ve currently implemented SMS. This is an opportunity to help you set yourself apart from your competitors and gain a bigger share of potential revenue.

For brands worried about sending texts amidst the pandemic, you likely don’t need to be. According to data from Wunderkind’s COVID-19 Marketing Pulse Report, conversion rates are regaining steam. That said, we do advise that you remain sensitive with your messaging.

When done correctly, text message marketing holds major value. it’s much easier to send a quick text message to subscribe than it is to open and send an email or navigate through social media. These types of mobile marketing messages reach your audience wherever they are during whatever they’re doing — right in their pockets.