2024 SMS Bechmarks Hero

The proof is in the data:

Use these insights to create better SMS marketing campaigns in 2024. Below you’ll find the aggregate data from thousands of ecommerce stores using SMS, so you can see how your brand’s SMS marketing strategy stacks up. We’ve also included actionable takeaways to help you get the most out of this report.

See How Your SMS Program Stacks Up

Get the report and see how your strategy stacks up in your industry. We’ll also include best practices and advice from top-performing brands.

Benchmarks Methodology: Eligible Shops are those that installed 90 days prior to Black Friday (2023-11-25) and spent at least $300 on Postscript Marketing in Q4 2023. • SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks are averages at a merchant level across 2023, to account for seasonality. • CTR’s are calculated based only on sent messages that included a link. • A score is measured by dividing first time orders New Subscribers L30 / First Time Orders L30.

Benchmarks by Industry

Every industry has a different customer profile, different best practices for reaching those customers, and different expectations for their marketing efforts. In essence, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. After all, a ski shop and a baby food store probably shouldn’t text their customers the same way. We looked at the top 5 ecommerce industries and analyzed their success with SMS marketing to help you evaluate your own.

fashion-apparel
beauty-cosmetics
home-goods
food-drink
health-wellness

Overall Benchmarks

If your shop doesn’t fit into one of the specific industry categories featured in this report, 
these general numbers are a great starting point for assessing your SMS performance.

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SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks

Table Overall SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks DesktopTable Overall SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks Desktop

Overall Message Benchmarks

Table Overall Message Benchmarks DesktopTable Overall Message Benchmarks Desktop

Key Takeaways

  • Every brand can benefit by using Back in Stock notifications. These subscribers are extremely high intent, which is evident based on the high CTR and EPM. Turn on Back in Stock notifications on your product pages to acquire more subscribers and see a big increase in revenue.

  • Welcome Series and Keyword Opt-In remained relatively unchanged year over year, with a slight increase for EPM performance for Keyword Opt-In. This is just another reminder that a more tailored, thoughtful Welcome Series experience is crucial in getting those new customer conversions.

Apparel

Fashion & Apparel

From streetwear to swim trunks and evening gowns to athleisure, apparel brands should try these SMS benchmarks on for size.

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SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks

Table Apparel SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks DesktopTable Apparel SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks Desktop

Overall Message Benchmarks

Table Apparel Overall Message Benchmarks DesktopTable Apparel Overall Message Benchmarks Desktop

Key Takeaways

  • Fashion and apparel brands saw exceptionally strong performance with Campaigns and Post-Purchase automations compared to other industries. Be sure to optimize these messages even further by creating iterations that target specific segments of subscribers—based on products purchased or amount spent, for example.

  • Leverage Keyword Opt-in to target specific customer segments to increase an already high EPM and target Keywords based on apparel preferences (casual, dressy, etc) and deliver highly personalized Welcome Series from there.

Beauty & Cosmetics

Beauty & Cosmetics

We love a good GRWM. If your beauty brand’s SMS strategy could use a glow up, start here.

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SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks

Table Beauty SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks DesktopTable Beauty SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks Desktop

Overall Message Benchmarks

Table Beauty Overall Message Benchmarks DesktopTable Beauty Overall Message Benchmarks Desktop

Key Takeaways

  • Don’t depend on only email for sending ‘back in stock’ notifications, as this SMS automation performs incredibly well for the beauty industry. Not only does it drive new SMS signups, but it is high-converting too.

  • We’re seeing more beauty brands use the Post Purchase automation to collect user-generated content via incoming MMS. It’s a great way to engage with subscribers after they’ve made a purchase and collect visual, social proof.

Home goods

Home Goods

Home is where the heart is, so set your heart on these Home Goods benchmarks—they won’t lead you astray.

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SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks

Table HomeGoods SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks DesktopTable HomeGoods SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks Desktop

Overall Message Benchmarks

Table HomeGoods Overall Message Benchmarks DesktopTable HomeGoods Overall Message Benchmarks Desktop

Key Takeaways

  • The average Subscriber LTV for stores in the 90th percentile increased by 40% YOY. If you spent the last year focusing on SMS as a revenue channel, you’re likely seeing the benefits in your SLTV score. Better yet—take this as a sign to double down in 2024.

  • Make sure you’re leaning into both a Browse Abandonment and Abandoned Cart automation which perform almost neck-and-neck across this industry. 

Food & Bev

Food & Drink

This section is for all purveyors of coffee, snacks, and meal prep products. Has your strategy earned you a chef’s kiss?

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SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks

Table FoodDrink SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks DesktopTable FoodDrink SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks Desktop

Overall Message Benchmarks

Table FoodDrink Overall Message Benchmarks DesktopTable FoodDrink Overall Message Benchmarks Desktop

Key Takeaways

  • Do not sleep on your ‘back in stock’ notifications being turned on for SMS. Not only do we see incredibly high CTR performance, but it remains one of the top EPM opportunities too.

  • Keyword Opt-in continues to perform as a top message type both for CTR and EPM. If you don’t have a customized Keyword to acquire subscribers yet—create one ASAP. Consider a custom one for a specific product category, i.e. “Snacks” and deliver a specific Welcome Series depending on the Keyword to see even better EPM performance.

Health & Wellness

Health & Wellness

Does your shop cater to consumers’ mental and physical well-being? If so, consider this section your annual checkup.

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SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks

Table HealthWellness SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks DesktopTable HealthWellness SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks Desktop

Overall Message Benchmarks

Table HealthWellness Overall Message Benchmarks DesktopTable HealthWellness Overall Message Benchmarks Desktop

Key Takeaways

  • Health & Wellness saw explosive growth in Subscriber LTV—up 38% for shops in the 90th percentile. The brands performing well here offer up a solid mix of educational campaigns and automations, making sure new customers have strong product knowledge and information surrounding their offerings.

  • This industry has one of the highest revenue per message averages, with only high AOV categories like Home & Lifestyle performing better. Make sure you’re optimizing your revenue with regular sends. Try adding 1 more campaign a month to see what kind of lift in revenue you can achieve.

BFCM-Flames

BFCM Benchmarks

We gathered data for our BFCM benchmarks defined as messages sent from 11/19/2023 
through 11/28/2023.

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Automation Type / Campaign Benchmarks

Table BFCM Automation Type-Campaign Benchmarks DesktopTable BFCM Automation Type-Campaign Benchmarks Desktop

A Daily Campaign CTR / EPM Breakdown During BFCM

50th Percentile CTR

Table BFCM 50th-Percentile-CTR Desktop

50th Percentile EPM

Table BFCM 50th-Percentile-EPM Desktop

Key Takeaways

  • Rather than compete against brands sending on peak days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we saw an increase in performance in days leading up to Black Friday, with Thanksgiving having the highest average CTRs across the entire BFCM period.

  • Stagger your sends and don’t be afraid to hold your biggest sale offerings early—just be sure to let your subscribers know that a deeper discount is (or isn’t) coming for Black Friday or Cyber Monday. We saw a general uptick in messages like “BFCM Warm Up” or “BFCM Early Bird” that are worth trying in 2024.

Benchmarks by Product Personas

Purchase Frequency is calculated based on subscribers with multiple purchases

small-sub-spends
occasional-orders
single-stop-gifts
one-time-luxuries
recurring-splurges
Small Subscription
Spends

Small Subscription Spends

Defined As:

  • AOV: <$100

  • Repurchase Rate: >25%

  • Purchase Frequency: <45 days between purchases

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SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks

Table Small-Subscription-Spends SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks DesktopTable Small-Subscription-Spends SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks Desktop

Overall Message Benchmarks

Table Small-Subscription-Spends Overall Message Benchmarks DesktopTable Small-Subscription-Spends Overall Message Benchmarks Desktop
Occasional
Orders

Occasional Orders

Defined As:

  • AOV: <$100

  • Repurchase Rate: >25%

  • Purchase Frequency: >45 days between purchases

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SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks

Table Occasional-Orders SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks DesktopTable Occasional-Orders SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks Desktop

Overall Message Benchmarks

Table Occasional-Orders-Spends Overall Message Benchmarks DesktopTable Occasional-Orders-Spends Overall Message Benchmarks Desktop
Single-Stop
Gifts

Single-Stop Gifts

Defined As:

  • AOV: <$100

  • Repurchase Rate: <25%

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SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks

Table Single-Stop-Gifts SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks DesktopTable Single-Stop-Gifts SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks Desktop

Overall Message Benchmarks

Table Single-Stop-Gifts Overall Message Benchmarks DesktopTable Single-Stop-Gifts Overall Message Benchmarks Desktop
One-Time Luxuries

One-Time Luxuries

Defined As:

  • AOV: <$100

  • Repurchase Rate: >25%

  • Purchase Frequency: >45 days between purchases

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SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks

Table One-Time-Luxuries SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks DesktopTable One-Time-Luxuries SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks Desktop

Overall Message Benchmarks

Table One-Time-Luxuries Overall Message Benchmarks DesktopTable One-Time-Luxuries Overall Message Benchmarks Desktop
Recurring
Splurges

Recurring Splurges

Defined As:

  • AOV: >$100

  • Repurchase Rate: >25%

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SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks

Table Recurring-Splurges SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks DesktopTable Recurring-Splurges SLTV + ARMR Benchmarks Desktop

Overall Message Benchmarks

Table Recurring-Splurges Overall Message Benchmarks DesktopTable Recurring-Splurges Overall Message Benchmarks Desktop