Customer Engagement

The power of text messaging in retail

Recent research has revealed that mobile is becoming more effective at driving sales than in-store sales staff, with text messaging at the epicentre.

More customers are turning to mobile to research products, read un-biased feedback and compare prices. This research has been backed up by Gretchen Scheiman, Partner and Director for CRM at OgilvyOne Worldwide, New York:

“Mobile will drive more sales in-store than human sales people. If they can get access to reviews and all the data that is out there that is more trusted than salespeople, they’re going to turn to mobile.”

Steve Madden (a leading American footwear brand) has increased its mobile traffic by 250% and increased revenue by over $500m through mobile sales.

Don’t be too late

Customers are using mobile to make use of their precious time to browse mobile sites and make decisions before they purchase.

Joy Liuzzo, Senior Director of Marketing & Mobile Research at Insight Express comments:

“Stores that are prepared and mobilised will be providing a good experience and encouraging repeat visits. The sites that are not optimised to be viewed on a mobile device are going to face a setback when they finally do go down that path.”

Here at Rapide we have worked with retailers such as Clarks, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Littlewoods to help them engage their customers through mobile, from gathering in-store feedback to increasing revenue through text messaging campaigns.

“Rapide has helped us build a mobile marketing database and has raised the bar for customer service”

Make it accessible to all!

While brands are having success with a variety of mobile channels; mobile web, apps, location based services – there is only one that is accessible to all your customers and is having profound benefits for organisations across the world - that channel is text messaging. Michael Ahearn, Vice President of Marketing Strategy at iLoop Mobile comments:

“SMS is a simple, cheap and an effective way to get the word out and drive traffic.”

It is also the leading communication channel in the world. Mobile researcher and bestselling author Tomi T Ahonen comments:

“SMS is used by 4 billion people worldwide, that is more than email and social networks.”

So with it being used by so many people, accessible to all and a proven effective way to engage your customers you’d think that brands would be embracing text messaging?

The truth is 41% of brands are not planning any investment at all in text messaging with only 11% investing significantly.

Our view is that text messaging should be at the centre of everything you do with your customers, whether you’re talking to them or listening to what they have to say it is a great way to engage and can open up lots of other possibilities.

Nigel Shanahan, Managing Director of Rapide recently represented the Mobile Marketing Association at MediaPro in front of an audience of the UK’s leading retail brands. Nigel observed:

“By using text messaging to engage with your customers you are not alienating certain customers who may not have an iPhone or the latest feature on their phone. It is such a great way to talk to your customers and can drive sales through other channels such as your mobile website, email or call centre.

However it shouldn’t be all about trying to sell, customers want to give you their feedback and text messaging is a perfect way of them letting them do this, as research by Gartner has shown, it increases accuracy and response rates by 40%.”

Our mobile marketing solutions have increased the revenue of our retail clients by over £1 million. Furthermore our feedback solution Rant & Rave has helped brands increase feedback and identify over 100,000 opportunities.

To find out how you can start using the power of text messaging to drive sales and increase feedback fill out the form below and one of our team will be in touch for a free no-obligation consultation.