That’s especially true when compared with email, which experiences far lower open rates and takes longer for a consumer to notice. Types of time-sensitive messages often include sale previews and last chance messaging to let consumers know about expiring offers. As a replenishment mechanism: While not commonplace, this is an area to watch. Brands can receive an order via text message.

Open rates soared during the early days of the pandemic. Acoustic, a marketing tech firm, found a 23.8% jump in open rates worldwide between February and March. In 2021, marketers will build on this growth in an intentional manner, keeping in mind that customer-centric emails often perform the best, and improving in areas such as personalization, testing, measurement, and acquisition.

Email is the most popular method for internet users worldwide to stay in touch with retailers, according to a January 2019 survey from omnichannel retail management company iVend Retail. This tops the number of respondents who say they want brands to communicate with them on apps or through social media.

Unsubscribe rates are higher: According to Wunderkind, opt-out rates can range from 0.30% to 0.85%. That’s higher than most brand’s email unsubscribe rates, but there’s a reason: SMS is so high-touch, and higher open rates mean more opportunities for customers to opt out. “Nobody forgets to opt-out from your SMS list,” said Benjamin Benichou, co-founder and CEO of SMS marketing platform Drop.

Our email open rates have gone up with more people at home. We've also been able to send SMS messages directly to a certain list of customers. For example, one will say, "Hey, we have an extra XL," and then we can offer certain discounts based on our inventory. Being able to speak directly to them has been more effective during these times.