In 2019, mobile phones accounted for 84 percent of the Christmas eCommerce surge. Between 2019 and 2020, the number of texts sent in the US increased from 2 trillion to 2.2 trillion.
Furthermore, experts are predicting another 18 percent increase over the holidays of 2021. This is because customers want to purchase on their mobile devices rather than on their desktops and laptops.
Mobile shopping has indeed become the mainstream choice for online purchases. So, let’s explore the steps of using business SMS to support your customers during the holidays:
1. Prepare Your Staff for Holiday Shopping
Using last year’s data, you can prepare your workers for the busiest shopping season. If your team is overwhelmed with customer questions and their response times have slowed, consider hiring seasonal, temporary team members.
Create SMS templates for common questions so your team can react swiftly. Finally, integrate your enterprise SMS platform with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp so your staff will have simple access to any customer queries.
2. Assess Holiday Communications Data
Examine any company SMS reports from last year’s Holiday season conversations to help you design your team’s communications strategy for this year.
Look for statistics like how many messages were sent, what were the peak times, the conversion ratio, and the reaction time of your team to inquiries.
3. Set Realistic Holiday Expectations
Proactive support saves time and assures happy customers over the holidays. Send text messages to customers about basic holiday information so that you do not over-promise and underdeliver. Furthermore, provide realistic targets for your team in terms of engagements and conversions to keep the team’s morale in hitting the targets.
4. Promote Your SMS Services to Customers
Let your customers know about your SMS services. Include your SMS number, opt-in information, and basic SMS service facts on your Contact Us page and social media platforms. You may also use Google Ads to promote your SMS number.
5. Make a VIP Preview for Your Consumers
VIP segmentation can also be beneficial for you during the holidays. Send VIPs a notice with early access to your Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale, and allow your top consumers to get early access to your items.
6. Send Notifications on Customers’ Restocked Favorites
Customers want the ideal Christmas gifts for their loved ones—but they aren’t always available right away. Allow customers to be notified through SMS when their requested gifts are restocked, so you will not lose them to the competition.
7. Consistently Update Holiday Orders
Customers will return to a business if they can track their orders from confirmation through delivery. Send out regular holiday order updates to keep customers informed—update custom fields with customer order data using an eCommerce connection like Shopify SMS.
8. Resolve Customer Issues Fast
Holiday shopping may be stressful, so respond to client questions promptly. Don’t forget to create an auto-reply that advises customers when to expect a response and automate assignments of high-quality queries to the relevant customer service or technical support staff right away.
If you use a Salesforce SMS connection, you can access client history directly from your company SMS platform, allowing you to provide quicker, more personalized service.
9. Create a Cart Abandonment Flow
Almost 70 percent of shopping carts are abandoned on average. A cart abandonment flow is an excellent approach to urge clients to complete their purchases. People are busy over the holidays, and they may require a gentle shove from time to time.
10. Don’t Undervalue Return Customers
A straightforward return policy will attract 92% of customers to buy again. So, allow clients to initiate returns through SMS. Like orders, keep consumers informed about returns. Then, send a chat-based SMS poll to see how you did and what you can do to get their business in the new year.
Conclusion
The holidays are supposed to be the most joyful season of the year. You can keep it that way for you and your staff by using tools such as SMS services to streamline your services in this very busy and demanding time.
If you need a reliable text service for your small business, Main Street Contact can help you. We create web-based platforms that enable you to send messages all over the world quickly and easily—making communication easy and accessible for you and your customers. We can handle both small capacity and large capacity messaging, so get started with us for FREE!