SMS Benchmarks
for Ecommerce Marketing
2020 EDITION
You’ve created a thoughtful SMS marketing strategy. But the big question is, how is it performing?
Below you’ll find the aggregate data from hundreds of ecommerce stores using SMS, so you can see how your brand's performance measures up. We’ve also included actionable takeaways to help you get the most out of this data as well as ideas for your SMS marketing strategy. Drill down into industry-specific benchmarks to give you the most relevant information for your brand.
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Jargon Decoder
UNSUB Rate
The percent at which subscribers unsubscribe to messages
CTR
Click-through-Rate
Conversion Rate
The percent of which subscribers purchase
EPM
Earning per Message
Search by Industry
All Industries
If your shop doesn’t fit into one of the listed verticals below, this is a great catch-all starting point for looking at your SMS performance.
| Message Type | Mean UNSUB Rate | Mean CTR | Mean Conversion Rate | Mean EPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign | 0.9% | 9.8% | 1.4% | $1.04 |
| Abandoned Cart | 2.4% | 16.2% | 9.1% | $8.11 |
| Customer Winback | 1.5% | 7.5% | 1.1% | $0.69 |
| Loyalty Offer | 1.0% | 14.6% | 2.2% | $1.12 |
| Welcome Series | 3.1% | 10.3% | 2.0% | $1.78 |
| Keyword | 3.0% | 30.3% | 7.7% | $5.79 |
What to Do
Setup an Abandoned Cart series! Across every industry, abandoned carts CTR, conversion rate, and EMP are incredibly strong 💪.
Use Keywords: With the highest CTR of all SMS messages and killer EPM, keywords are a foolproof strategy to build your list and revenue.
Go Easy on Campaigns: Less is more with campaigns across the board. While they have some of the lowest unsubscribe rates, they also have lower EMP, conversion rates, and CTR.
How many distinct SMS opt-ins should we have?
Fully ramped shops using SMS had 3-4 different SMS opt-ins.
Apparel
From streetwear to swim trunks, athleisure, and everything in between, these are the SMS benchmarks for apparel brands.
| Message Type | Mean UNSUB Rate | Mean CTR | Mean Conversion Rate | Mean EPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign | 0.9% | 9.7% | 1.5% | $1.23 |
| Abandoned Cart | 1.9% | 15.7% | 9.7% | $9.19 |
| Customer Winback | 1.1% | 7.8% | 1.4% | $0.84 |
| Loyalty Offer | 1.0% | 14.8% | 2.9% | $1.44 |
| Welcome Series | 2.6% | 9.7% | 1.8% | $1.66 |
| Keyword | 3.1% | 28.8% | 6.9% | $5.83 |
What to Do
Set up abandoned cart & keyword: No surprise here—they’re money in the bank.
Experiment with a Loyalty Offer: With one of the higher CTR’s, this is a good indicator that with the right offer, you can likely increase conversion rate and EPM. We recommend A/B testing different creative or offers to see what resonates with shoppers.
What subscriber source performs the best?
The majority of subscribers are acquired either at checkout or via texting in a keyword.
Keyword subscribers have 30-40% higher click through rates, EPM, and conversion rates compared to checkout subscribers.
Home Goods
It takes a lot to decorate a home! From candles to beds, and beyond, all the items that go in your home or products that you use within a home belong here.
| Message Type | Mean UNSUB Rate | Mean CTR | Mean Conversion Rate | Mean EPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign | 1.0% | 13.0% | 2.0% | $1.09 |
| Abandoned Cart | 2.6% | 18.4% | 9.6% | $8.46 |
| Customer Winback | 3.5% | 5.9% | 0.4% | $0.24 |
| Loyalty Offer | 0.8% | 18.0% | 2.4% | $1.46 |
| Welcome Series | 2.7% | 11.6% | 2.6% | $3.04 |
| Keyword | 3.3% | 26.7% | 7.3% | $6.70 |
What to Do
Build a Welcome Series: After you’ve set up an abandoned cart series and keyword, work on a welcome series.
Skip win-backs: Of all the SMS automations to focus on, win-backs are the least worth your while when getting started. Save these for a rainy day after you’ve fine-tuned abandoned carts, keywords, and a welcome series.
Beauty/Cosmetics
Whether you’re in the business of selling lip-kits, haircare or skincare products, this is the data for you.
| Message Type | Mean UNSUB Rate | Mean CTR | Mean Conversion Rate | Mean EPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign | 0.9% | 8.8% | 1.0% | $0.67 |
| Abandoned Cart | 2.2% | 14.8% | 8.2% | $6.29 |
| Customer Winback | 0.8% | 6.6% | 1.0% | $0.52 |
| Loyalty Offer | 1.2% | 11.6% | 1.2% | $0.36 |
| Welcome Series | 3.6% | 9.6% | 1.7% | $1.03 |
| Keyword | 3.0% | 30.9% | 7.3% | $4.62 |
What to Do
A/B test your Abandoned Cart: The EPM for beauty and cosmetics abandoned carts is huge. Spend some extra TLC making sure yours is irresistible.
Incorporate a keyword across different channels: Keywords are solid performers for this industry. Try using keywords on Instagram, product packaging, and email marketing.
Food & Beverage
Coffee, snacks, meal prep— people need to eat and drink!
| Message Type | Mean UNSUB Rate | Mean CTR | Mean Conversion Rate | Mean EPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign | 0.8% | 8.4% | 1.3% | $1.05 |
| Abandoned Cart | 2.6% | 15.5% | 8.5% | $5.92 |
| Customer Winback | 1.4% | 6.4% | 0.8% | $0.57 |
| Loyalty Offer | 0.8% | 12.1% | 1.6% | $0.85 |
| Welcome Series | 2.7% | 9.6% | 1.3% | $0.70 |
| Keyword | 2.5% | 25.8% | 7.2% | $4.00 |
What to Do
Create a loyalty offer: Consumables are great business for repeat buyers. A loyalty offer or program is a solid way to incentivize folks to keep purchasing.
Health/
Wellness
Health & Wellness is big business in 2020. With consumers concerned about their mental and physical well being, and many shoppers thinking about self-care.
| Message Type | Mean UNSUB Rate | Mean CTR | Mean Conversion Rate | Mean EPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign | 0.9% | 8.9% | 1.4% | $0.86 |
| Abandoned Cart | 2.5% | 17.0% | 9.5% | $5.53 |
| Customer Winback | 1.7% | 9.9% | 1.1% | $0.65 |
| Loyalty Offer | 0.4% | 13.9% | 2.2% | $1.28 |
| Welcome Series | 5.1% | 7.4% | 2.5% | $1.30 |
| Keyword | 2.2% | 37.3% | 10.6% | $5.97 |
What to Do
Design a loyalty offer: If you’re just getting started with SMS, we’d go against conventional wisdom here and advise you to build out a loyalty offer before spending a ton of time on a multi-touch welcome series. Why? Loyalty offers have the lowest unsub rate, high CTR, and are about the same in terms of conversion rate and EPM when stacked against a welcome series.