SMS marketing isn't slowing down. The US market hit $12.6 billion in 2026, open rates still sit at 98%, and ecommerce brands are pulling $71 back for every dollar they spend on text campaigns. If you're running an online store and haven't added SMS to your marketing mix yet, you're leaving money on the table.

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Key highlights

• The US SMS marketing market reached $12.6 billion in 2026, growing at 20.3% annually
• SMS messages have a 98% open rate, compared to 28% for email
• Businesses earn an average of $71 for every $1 spent on SMS marketing
• 84% of consumers have opted in to receive text messages from brands
• SMS converts at 29%, nearly double email's 15% conversion rate
• Automated SMS flows account for just 7.6% of sends but drive 45.2% of total SMS revenue

SMS marketing market size and growth

The SMS marketing industry is one of the fastest-growing channels in digital marketing. Here's where the numbers stand right now.

The US SMS marketing market reached $12.6 billion in 2026. That's a compound annual growth rate of 20.3%. Four years ago, most brands treated texting as an afterthought. Now it's a core revenue channel. (Grand View Research)

The global SMS marketing industry is worth $16 to $18 billion. Different research firms land on slightly different numbers depending on methodology, but the trajectory is clear: up and to the right. (Omnisend)

SMS volume rose 40% in 2025, following a 31% increase in 2024. Brands aren't just experimenting with text anymore. They're scaling it. The compound growth over two years means SMS sends have nearly doubled since 2023. (Omnisend)

The global mobile messaging industry hit $136.2 billion in 2026. It's projected to reach $595.8 billion by 2035. SMS is just one piece of a much larger messaging ecosystem that includes WhatsApp, RCS, and push notifications. (EntrepreneursHQ)

66% of businesses now use SMS marketing software. That's a 55% jump from four years ago, when only 42% of businesses were texting customers. The adoption curve has been steep and shows no signs of flattening. (SimpleTexting)

For ecommerce brands specifically, SMS pairs well with other customer communication channels. Many Shopify stores now combine text marketing with AI phone support to cover every touchpoint.

SMS open rates and engagement statistics

This is where SMS really separates itself from every other marketing channel.

SMS has a 98% open rate. Compare that to email's average of 28%. When you send a text, it gets read. Period. No spam folders, no promotions tabs, no algorithmic filtering. (Sender)

90% of text messages are read within 3 minutes. Your email might sit in someone's inbox for hours (or forever). Texts get opened almost immediately. If you're running a flash sale or sending a time-sensitive offer, there's no faster way to reach your audience. (Sender)

82% of people check their text notifications within 5 minutes. And about a third check within one minute. The immediacy of SMS is unmatched by any other channel, including push notifications. (DigitalMindsBPO)

The average SMS response rate is 45%. Email sits at roughly 10%. Texts feel personal, conversational, and direct. People respond to them the same way they'd respond to a friend. (SimpleTexting)

93% of consumers text every day. And 45% of them check their messages more than 10 times a day. You're meeting your customers exactly where they already spend their time. (SimpleTexting)

That kind of engagement matters for ecommerce customer retention and building customer lifetime value.

SMS click-through and conversion rates

Opens are great, but clicks and conversions are what actually drive revenue.

SMS click-through rates average 18-19%. Email CTR hovers around 2.5%. That's roughly 7x higher engagement per message sent. When someone opens a text with a link, they're far more likely to tap it than they are to click a link in an email. (Klaviyo)

SMS converts at 29%, nearly double email's 15%. The directness of text messaging cuts through the noise. There's no subject line to optimize, no preview text to agonize over. Just a clear message and a link. (DigitalMindsBPO)

Ecommerce SMS campaigns pull 11-20% conversion rates. That range depends on the type of message. Sale alerts convert at 22.2%, making them one of the highest-performing SMS campaign types for online stores. (Postscript)

Automated SMS flows have a 3.81% click-to-conversion rate. That might sound modest compared to raw conversion numbers, but it's measured from click to purchase. When you factor in the volume, those percentages add up fast. (Klaviyo)

SMS generates 17x more revenue than email. Message for message, text marketing produces dramatically more revenue. Combined with lower sending costs for many campaigns, the math is hard to argue with. (DigitalMindsBPO)

These conversion rates make SMS especially powerful for ecommerce conversion rate optimization and recovering abandoned carts.

SMS marketing ROI statistics

The return on investment for SMS is one of the most compelling arguments for adding it to your stack.

Businesses earn $71 for every $1 spent on SMS marketing. That's the average across industries. Some brands see even higher returns depending on their list quality and offer strategy. (Attentive)

Omnisend customers report $79 per $1 spent. Ecommerce-focused platforms tend to see higher ROI because their audiences are already primed to buy. A well-timed text with a discount code can close a sale in seconds. (Omnisend)

SMS ROI can reach 7,100%, nearly double email's 3,600%. The gap is widening as SMS tools get smarter with segmentation and automation. Email isn't dying, but SMS is clearly outperforming it on a per-dollar basis. (InboxArmy)

Automated SMS campaigns generate $0.74 per send vs $0.15 for one-off messages. That's nearly 5x the return. Automation (think abandoned cart texts, welcome sequences, post-purchase follow-ups) is where the real money is. (Omnisend)

Retail flash sales via SMS can achieve ROI exceeding 3,000%. Time-sensitive offers paired with the immediacy of text messaging create urgency that email simply can't match. (Text-Em-All)

If you're looking to maximize returns on your ecommerce marketing spend, SMS should be near the top of your priority list. And when customers call back with questions about those offers, AI phone agents can handle the conversations 24/7.

See how AI phone support works for your store. Setup takes three minutes.

Consumer behavior and opt-in statistics

Understanding how customers feel about SMS marketing tells you a lot about where the channel is headed.

84% of consumers have opted in to receive text messages from businesses. That's up from 79% in 2024 and represents a 35% increase since 2021. The stigma around "marketing texts" is fading fast. (EZ Texting)

Over 52% of consumers receive SMS from 4 or more brands. People aren't just opting in to one or two lists. They're building a collection of brand text relationships, which means the competition for attention inside the SMS channel is growing. (Sender)

75% of consumers have made a purchase from an SMS. Three out of four people who get brand texts have actually bought something because of a text. That's a staggering action rate for any marketing channel. (SimpleTexting)

83% prefer texts over email or phone calls for brand communication. Consumers want quick, non-intrusive messages. Texts fit that preference perfectly because they don't require sitting on hold or reading through a lengthy email. (SimpleTexting)

71% want the ability to text a business back. One-way blasts are becoming less acceptable. Consumers expect two-way conversations, which means your SMS strategy needs a plan for handling replies. (EZ Texting)

This shift toward conversational commerce connects directly to how brands handle customer service. When someone texts back with a question, you need a fast response, whether that's a live agent, a chatbot, or an AI phone agent that picks up when they call.

SMS vs email marketing comparison

Both channels have their place, but the performance gaps are worth understanding.

Open rate: SMS 98% vs Email 28%. Email has improved over the years with better deliverability tools, but it can't compete with the near-universal open rate of text messages. (Sender)

Click-through rate: SMS 19% vs Email 2.5%. SMS links get clicked at roughly 7-8x the rate of email links. Part of this is the format: a short text with one clear link outperforms a designed email with multiple competing CTAs. (Klaviyo)

Conversion rate: SMS 29% vs Email 15%. When someone clicks through from a text, they're more likely to complete a purchase. The buying intent behind an SMS click is higher than an email click. (DigitalMindsBPO)

ROI: SMS $71 per dollar vs Email $36 per dollar. Both channels produce positive returns, but SMS is roughly 2x more efficient. The smart move is using both together. (Attentive)

SMS + Email combined drives 47% higher customer retention. And 91% of marketers report increased conversions when they integrate SMS into their automated email flows. The two channels complement each other. Email for longer content and nurturing, SMS for urgency and action. (DigitalMindsBPO)

Smart ecommerce marketing strategies use both, along with phone support for customers who prefer to talk.

Ecommerce SMS benchmarks

If you run an online store, these are the numbers that matter most for your planning.

SMS flows account for 7.6% of sends but drive 45.2% of total SMS revenue. Automated flows (abandoned cart, welcome series, post-purchase) massively outperform one-off campaigns. If you're only sending blast campaigns, you're leaving most of the revenue on the table. (Klaviyo)

Most brands send 2 messages per month per subscriber. High-performing brands push that to 4-6 messages monthly without hurting retention, but only when each message is relevant and well-segmented. (Postscript)

A 1% SMS acquisition rate is average, 2%+ is strong, 5%+ is elite. That's the percentage of website visitors who opt in to your SMS list. Improving this number with better pop-ups and incentives can dramatically scale your text marketing revenue. (Postscript)

82% of businesses agree SMS is effective for driving revenue. It's not just the data saying it works. The brands actually running SMS campaigns confirm it's moving the needle on their bottom line. (SimpleTexting)

63% of marketers report improved acquisition and conversion rates from SMS. Beyond revenue, SMS is helping brands bring in new customers and convert more of the ones they already have. (Sender)

67% of businesses plan to increase their SMS budgets. The confidence in SMS ROI is driving bigger investments. If your competitors are texting their customers and you're not, you're falling behind. (SimpleTexting)

For Shopify stores, combining SMS with tools like abandoned cart recovery and AI phone agents creates a complete customer communication system.

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AI and emerging SMS trends

The next wave of SMS marketing is being shaped by AI, RCS, and conversational commerce.

83% of businesses using SMS have incorporated AI into their strategy. AI isn't a future thing for SMS marketing. It's already the norm. Most brands are using it for targeting, personalization, and timing optimization. (EZ Texting)

AI is used for targeting (47.7%), personalization (45.4%), and timing optimization (41.6%). These three use cases make up the core of AI-powered SMS. Sending the right message to the right person at the right time is no longer guesswork. (SimpleTexting)

44.3% of brands use chatbots and virtual assistants in their SMS strategy. Conversational SMS is growing fast. Customers don't just want to receive texts. They want to reply and get answers. (Attentive)

RCS traffic surged 500% after Apple added support in 2024. Rich Communication Services (basically, a richer version of SMS with images, carousels, and interactive elements) is the next big evolution in text messaging. (Omnisend)

Two-way messaging adoption hit 30.2%. Nearly a third of brands now support reply-based conversations via SMS. This trend is accelerating as consumers increasingly expect to text back and forth with businesses. (Attentive)

The AI trend extends beyond SMS. Brands are also using AI for customer service across phone, chat, and email. Voice AI is growing alongside SMS as another high-engagement channel.

What this means for ecommerce brands

The data points in one direction: SMS is one of the highest-performing marketing channels available to ecommerce brands right now. A 98% open rate, $71 return per dollar spent, and 29% conversion rate are numbers that most channels can only dream about.

But here's the thing. SMS works best as part of a multichannel approach. The 47% retention lift from combining SMS with email proves that no single channel does it all. Your customers want to text you, email you, and sometimes pick up the phone and call.

That's where most ecommerce brands still have a gap. They've nailed email. They're building out SMS. But when a customer actually calls, they get voicemail or a long hold time. The data from our call center statistics roundup shows that missed calls are a real revenue problem.

The brands winning in 2026 are the ones covering every channel: email for nurturing, SMS for urgency, and AI phone agents for the conversations that need a human touch (without the human cost). If you're already investing in SMS, adding AI phone support is the next logical step. Ringly.io gets your AI phone agent answering calls in about three minutes, handles order lookups and returns automatically, and works in 40 languages.

Start your free trial and see what it looks like for your store.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average open rate for SMS marketing?

SMS marketing has a 98% open rate, according to multiple industry reports. That's roughly 3.5x higher than email's average open rate of 28%. Most text messages are read within 3 minutes of being received.

How much ROI does SMS marketing generate?

On average, businesses earn $71 for every $1 spent on SMS marketing. Some ecommerce platforms report even higher returns, with Omnisend customers seeing $79 per dollar. Automated SMS flows tend to produce the highest ROI.

Is SMS marketing better than email marketing?

SMS outperforms email on open rates (98% vs 28%), click-through rates (19% vs 2.5%), and conversion rates (29% vs 15%). But the best results come from using both together. Brands that combine SMS and email see 47% higher customer retention.

What percentage of consumers opt in to SMS marketing?

84% of consumers have opted in to receive text messages from businesses as of 2025. That number has grown 35% since 2021, showing that consumer comfort with brand texting is increasing year over year.

How often should ecommerce brands send SMS messages?

Most brands send about 2 messages per month per subscriber. High-performing brands send 4-6 messages monthly without hurting retention, but only when messages are relevant and well-segmented. Oversending is the fastest way to get unsubscribes.

What types of SMS campaigns convert best for ecommerce?

Sale alert texts convert at 22.2%, making them the top performer. Abandoned cart reminders, welcome sequences, and post-purchase follow-ups also perform well. Automated flows account for just 7.6% of sends but drive 45.2% of total SMS revenue.

How big is the SMS marketing market?

The US SMS marketing market reached $12.6 billion in 2026, growing at a 20.3% compound annual growth rate. Globally, the industry is valued between $16 and $18 billion. SMS volume grew 40% in 2025 alone.

How are brands using AI in SMS marketing?

83% of businesses with SMS programs have incorporated AI. The most common uses are customer data analysis for targeting (47.7%), message personalization based on behavior (45.4%), and send-time optimization (41.6%). Nearly half of brands also use chatbots in their SMS workflows.