Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the largest shopping day of the year in the United States. While a significant portion of retail traffic has moved online, companies still seek out ways to get customers to their storefronts. One of the most successful channels for promoting in-store sales and other incentives to customers is SMS marketing.
According to Brielle Jaekel of Luxury Daily, 78 percent of customers say they're more likely to visit a store following an SMS notification.
"It is important to reach consumers at particular points within their customer journey, and the untethered aspect to mobile allows retailers to connect with consumers at all times," she writes. "Notifying followers of a particular deal or promotion happening at that time through messaging is likely to cause customers to enter the stores relatively soon, acting as a call to action."
Foot traffic is an important metric to measure because it gives brands the chance to immerse customers in a 360 degree retail experience. Online, customers can be swayed and distracted by a variety of competitors, better deals and nicer shipping perks. In your store, customers are a captive audience who have gone to the trouble of showing up to buy your merchandise. This investment is the first step in closing a sale.
While online deals and the convenience of ecommerce are attractive to consumers, nothing builds brand loyalty like a positive in-store experience. With SMS marketing, retailers have begun targeting subscribers with in-store notifications designed to reach customers in the department in which they're shopping.
An SMS gateway can help you leverage the buying power of your SMS subscribers. Whether that courts them to a brick-and-mortar retail location or your online shopping portal, SMS is a powerful resource to mobilize shoppers.
