Do you want to improve your SMS conversion rate by 6x???
Then you may want to learn what brands are doing with text-to-buy. The word on the street is the conversion rate is 5 - 6x higher than the average SMS program.
Today we’re going to discuss:
What kind of brands can benefit from text-to-buy
How brands are using text-to-buy functionality
2 text-to-buy providers to consider
Pricing and set up
5 brands to subscribe to if you want to see text-to-buy in action
First, what kind of brands does text-to-buy work for?
Brands with a strong curatorial voice
High replenishment categories (e.g., supplements, skincare, coffee, pet food)
Brands with an obvious post-purchase upsell - where the first order reveals the next one
How Text-to-Buy Works At Fellow Drops
Every Tuesday a Certified Q Grader, more casually known as a coffee sommelier, selects a standout coffee, pens a delicious description and sends it in a text to Fellow Drops’ subscribers.
Fellow Drops Coffee Sommelier Hailie Stevens
If you want a juicy, tropical light-medium roast like the one from Andytown Coffee, just reply with the number of bags you’d like to order and your coffee order will be on its way, without ever leaving the text thread. The weekly drop comes via a text like this one, powered by AudienceTap:
Announcing the weekly drop
The customer replies with a number of bags and if it’s their first purchase, they will enter a one-time, branded check out flow like this:
The first transaction takes the customer to a branded checkout
After the first order, the user flow gets faster. Now the customer can check out directly from text with saved payment details.
Follow on purchases are instant
For Fellow Drops, having a trusted curator de-risks the purchase and makes the decision simple, and the friction-less path to checkout helps maximize conversion. As a result, 6% of Fellow’s drop texts result in a purchase. This is 6x higher than the average conversion rate, which typically hovers under 1%.
How It Works At Caden Lane
Children’s clothing brand Caden Lane uses at least three different text-to-buy flows, powered by OneText:
AI-Generated Shopping Carts
Abandoned Cart Recovery
Post-Purchase Upsell
The customer’s first text-to-buy transaction with Caden Lane and OneText will look like this:
An AI-generated cart delivered by text
Now that the customer has stored payment details, future transactions on OneText go even faster, like this:
The Text-to-Buy experience for repeat purchasers
OneText reports that Caden Lane has driven 15% in incremental revenue through these 3 text-to-buy flows.
One reason text-to-buy works particularly well for this children’s brand: grandparents. A super simple checkout flow ensures this customer gets through the purchase easily. I’d wager that brands with a high concentration of convenience-first / low consideration buyers will also benefit from this approach.
2 Text-To-Buy Providers To Consider
Per their agreements with Shopify, the big SMS platforms like Attentive, Postscript and Klaviyo are prevented from offering text-to-buy functionality for Shopify brands. So here I will offer two U.S. providers that are compatible with Shopify, and that can run along side other SMS programs if needed.
AudienceTap
AudienceTap’s text-to-buy functionality works great for curator brands like Fellow Drops, Instagram brands like Morgan Julia Designs, and any brand that releases new SKUs in “drops.”
AudienceTap is compatible with Shopify, but not Shopify payments. You’ll bring your own Stripe account.
It integrates best with Klaviyo, but clients running text campaigns on other SMS platforms are welcome.
AudienceTap will require a separate sending number.
Their Two-Month Pilot Program will run you $149, includes $500 in credits, and can help you get a gauge on potential.
After the pilot, pricing is based on messages sent, plus a transaction fee
OneText
Founded by two PayPal executives, OneText began as a digital wallet. When a customer transacts via SMS with a OneText brand, the customer’s payment details are stored in this wallet and accessible for future purchases with any brand in the OneText network.
OneText’s strength is the Post‑Purchase Upsell, which can be run alongside any SMS program for $500/month, including all messaging and carrier fees
PPU is often a nice introduction to OneText, and if you get value from it, you can consider their full service SMS program. It will run you $300/month for the platform fee, and then you’ll purchase credits based on your usage
Contracts are annual but have a 90‑day opt‑out window, so you can test performance before you fully commit
I especially like that their AI agent and their 24/7 live human agents can respond to a wide range of inbound requests on your brand’s behalf
5 Text-To-Buy Brands To Subscribe To
If you want to see Text-to-Buy in action, here are 5 brands to subscribe to:
And the OG text-to-buy brand from GaryVee, WineText.com
Helpful Links
Connect with Founder Sam Schrup for more info on AudienceTap
Connect with Sales Lead Emma Smith for more info on OneText
Thanks for reading, and if this newsletter was forwarded to you, click here to subscribe for more SMS ideas!
