E-commerce SMS.

SMS improves conversion rates by reaching customers at the right moment with near-instant delivery. With a 98% open rate and most messages read within 90 seconds, SMS ensures your promotions, cart recovery nudges, and order updates are actually seen. Triggered SMS messages — those sent automatically based on customer actions — generate 26% of all SMS-driven orders, significantly outperforming email for time-sensitive communications.

Yes, and it's one of the most effective uses of e-commerce SMS. Around 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned. SMS cart recovery messages achieve approximately 19% click-through rates compared to just 2% for email. The key is timing — sending a recovery message within 30 minutes of abandonment, while the customer is still in a buying mindset, maximises conversion. You can include personalised product details and incentive codes to further boost recovery rates.

Integration depends on your platform. Our SMS API works with any e-commerce system — Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, and custom platforms. You configure triggers in your store (order placed, item shipped, cart abandoned) that send API requests to our system, which delivers the SMS. For simpler setups, our email-to-SMS service lets you trigger texts from automated email workflows.

SMS is ideal for order and delivery communications. Customers expect instant confirmation when they place an order, and SMS delivers that within seconds. Dispatch notifications with clickable tracking links keep customers informed and significantly reduce "where is my order?" support queries. These transactional messages don't require marketing consent under GDPR — they fall under legitimate interest as part of the service the customer has purchased.

SMS marketing delivers an average ROI of 71:1, making it one of the highest-returning channels available. For e-commerce specifically, the ROI comes from multiple sources: recovered abandoned carts (recovering even 5% of the 70% abandoned carts generates significant revenue), increased repeat purchases from re-engagement campaigns, and reduced support costs from proactive delivery updates. The low cost per message (typically 3-7p) combined with high engagement rates makes the economics compelling.

For marketing messages (promotions, flash sales, loyalty offers), you need explicit opt-in consent under GDPR and PECR regulations. You can collect this during checkout with a clear checkbox. For transactional messages (order confirmations, dispatch alerts, delivery updates), you can send these under "legitimate interest" without additional marketing consent, as they're part of the service the customer has purchased. Faretext handles opt-out (STOP) replies automatically.

Yes. Our platform supports dynamic fields that let you insert personalised data into every message — customer name, order number, product details, tracking links, delivery dates, and discount codes. Personalisation significantly improves engagement rates. For example, a cart recovery message that mentions the specific product left behind is far more effective than a generic reminder. Our API accepts any custom data fields your e-commerce platform provides.

SMS significantly outperforms email on key metrics: 98% open rate vs 20-30% for email, 45% response rate vs 6%, and messages read in 90 seconds vs 6 hours. For time-sensitive communications — flash sales, cart recovery, delivery updates — SMS is substantially more effective. However, the two channels work best together: use email for detailed content (product catalogues, newsletters) and SMS for urgent, action-oriented messages. SMS drives immediate action; email provides depth.