1 in 3 Black Friday shoppers opt for SMS or WhatsApp

Business messaging is one of the battlegrounds where hearts and minds will be won or lost this Black Friday. And with recent research highlighting that one in three Brits prefer to contact companies via SMS or WhatsApp, conversational messaging is one of the easiest ways to win the attention war.

Chris Gorman, Head of Professional Services at Esendex, explains, “For us, conversational messaging is a two-way communication between a brand and consumer – it’s convenient, feels like a personal interaction, and is on a mobile channel of a customer’s choosing.

“With statistics showing that 48% of people are on their phone between four and eight hours a day, and with seven in ten of us checking unread notifications in less than five minutes, conversational channels like SMS and WhatsApp are the place to be when it comes to Black Friday and the end of year sales.

Our research also shows that 79% of consumers would consider purchasing a product from a company when marketing messages are received via SMS or WhatsApp, with notifications of a sale, one-time discount or a back-in-stock alert being most likely to attract our attention.

“Thanks to business messaging technology and clever automation, businesses have a perfect opportunity to change the way they manage their relationships and to use cost-effective ways to drive more customer sales.

“By considering previous behaviour before sending new promotional messages or product offerings, you greatly increase the chance of offering something that’s relevant and timely.

“You build trust when a customer feels heard. You earn loyalty when they feel understood. And it all starts with conversational messaging.”