The global online sales in the Food & Beverage (F&B) industry will grow 10x by 2025. Thanks to the pandemic, the industry continues to adapt to alternative methods to meet consumer demands.
F&B brands – old and new – are adapting to digital transformation at lightning speed. And why not? Studies show that shoppers will continue to shop groceries online.
And so, in this article, we’ve put together ways in which you can use SMS marketing to increase the customer lifetime value (CLTV) for your Shopify F&B brand/site.
Shopify SMS marketing campaigns for F&B brands
1. Abandoned cart SMS
F&B has a 55.31% cart abandonment rate. But you can bring back those customers with the help of SMS marketing. If you don’t try now, those shoppers may never ever come back to your site.
Send a reminder SMS within a few hours of cart abandonment. You may want to combine your reminder with a time-sensitive deal, discount or a message that instills FOMO in the online shopper.
Here’s an example:
Hi Sam, you forgot something in your shopping cart. Head to yummyfoods.com to complete the purchase.
Or
Hi Sam, your favorite snack items are still in the cart and available. Get it at 10% off before it gets sold out. Yummyfoods.com
2. Cross-sell
A customer just bought bread from your site. What do you do? Send them a thank you and order confirmation SMS. Alongside, you can also cross-sell. You could suggest a complementing food item such as jam, a spread, butter, or more.
Cross-selling via SMS has many benefits. Since the customer just made the purchase, you can instantly send them a cross-sell suggestion in real-time. This increases the chances of more sales.
Another advantage of SMS is that being a mobile channel, it makes purchases quicker and easier. All that a customer has to do is click on the link and checkout.
Here’s an example:
Hey Greg, your order for 1 loaf of multigrain bread is confirmed. You might also like to try our popular spreads to go with the bread. Buy here: www.food.com.
3. To bring back customers
With F&B brands popping up like rabbits, there’s immense competition and customers are spoilt for choice. It’s possible that your customer found an alternative site to buy the same products. And hence, they stop buying from you.
Now, if you sit around waiting for them to revisit your site, it might never happen. So, how about sending them a friendly text message to remind them about your brand? Bring them back to your site with an SMS such as this:
We’ve missed you, Eve. And we think you’ll like a lot of the new items we’ve added to our store while you were away. www.food.com.
4. Sale and discount
Reach out to your customers with messages that excite them. And nothing can be more exciting than sales and discounts.
Send different types of discounts and offers that bring value to your customers: a free gift, free shipping, buy 1 get 1, percentage discount, volume discount, and more.
You can make your sale and discount SMS campaigns much easier with the right kind of SMS marketing strategy and tools.
5. New product updates
The F&B industry is growing by leaps and bounds. New items are introduced on a regular basis. As an online F&B store, you’ll have to keep expanding your inventory to beat your competition. This means you’ll have new products every now and then.
Send new product updates via SMS. It’s the fastest and the easiest way to share a quick update, such as the below example:
NEW: Hey Glen, you’ve enjoyed our regular cheese, onion and chilli fries. Now try them in wasabi and pepper flavors. Just added: www.food.com
6. Brand updates
As a brand, it’s important to keep your subscribers updated about everything that’s going on. Information such as: your site undergoing maintenance, delay in deliveries due to holidays, or a new CEO, a new store opening, etc.
SMS is a perfect channel for such quick, real-time updates. It’s a faster and direct way to keep your customers informed about information that may matter to them.
When a brand shares such simple yet important updates with their customers, they feel more engaged with the brand. It improves their customer experience. This, in turn, boosts customer loyalty.
Here’s an example:
UPDATE: We’re sorry to inform you that our site will be undergoing maintenance from 12 midnight to 4am. You won’t be able to place any orders during this time. Sorry for the inconvenience.
7. Pre-order updates
Suppose you’re launching a new product or you’re going to restock a product on a certain date. You might have a pre-order marketing plan. Make SMS a part of the plan.
Send pre-order updates via SMS. It will make it easier for shoppers to place pre-orders. Moreover, interested subscribers might not want to miss out on buying that specific item. Placing an order from the mobile through the SMS will be much faster for them.
8. Request feedback
When a brand requests customers for feedback, it helps them hit two birds with one stone.
1. Receive feedback and gather data
2. Make their customers feel heard and important and improve customer experience
By requesting for feedback via SMS, you can increase the response rate as SMS is a faster and more intimate channel.
Check out this request feedback SMS:
Hi Gen, we’d really appreciate it if you could reply to one question: How likely are you to recommend food.com to a friend? Answer with a digit between 0 (not likely) and 10 (very likely).
9. Order status
When customers buy from your site, they expect confirmation and updates, otherwise they might feel anxious. Hence, it’s best to send a speedy order update right after a sale. Plus, continue to send status updates – order confirmed, order ready to be shipped, order dispatched, order delivered, etc.
Sending order status updates via SMS can help improve customer experience as it’s an instant and more personal channel.
Here’s an example:
Hey Sam, your order for 10 pints of Stock Beer is confirmed and will soon be on it’s way. We’ll keep you updated. Cheers!
10. Content sharing
Another way to use SMS is to share content-driven communication. Your F&B brand might have a blog, articles, vlogs, videos, podcasts, etc. that you might want your customers to read.
Share content that enriches customer experience with SMS. Since you’ll be sharing this content straight to the subscriber’s mobile device, all they’ll need to do is click the link and read.
11. Thank you messages
Hit the right note with thank you messages to your customers. Say for example, one segment of your customers completed a year with your brand, send them an appreciation text. Or, a customer crossed a reward points threshold, send them a thank you note.
Not only do thank you messages make customers feel better, they also help boost your sales. Studies in eCommerce psychology reveal that when a brand gives us something – in this case a thank you message / appreciation – we’re wired to give back to the brand. So, we make more purchases from them or recommend them by word of mouth.
Here’s an example:
Hi Sheeba, we’re so glad we have had the privilege to serve for a year. And we wish to continue to do so. Thank you for your continued support.
12. Survey/polls
Just like requesting for feedback, an alternative method is to share surveys and polls with your customers. For example, you could ask them to choose their product preferences, or share a poll on the quality of the product, or what more they’d like to buy from your site.
Sharing surveys and polls via SMS helps because text messages are bite-sized and won’t annoy your customers the way long emails do. Moreover, all the customers have to do is select Yes or No or check on a box. It’s that simple!
Here’s an example:
Hey John, we value your opinion. We’d really appreciate it if you could give us 10 seconds to answer this poll: (add link to poll).
13. Celebrations
With so many festivals during the year, it’s a great opportunity for F&B brands to meet their customers with exciting offers.
Your customers’ anniversary, birthday, Valentines Day, New Year, Christmas, BFCM, Holiday Season Sale… and the list goes on.
Make your customers feel special by sharing deals and discounts on these special days.
14. Reward programs
62% of customers are more likely to spend more if a brand has a rewards program. You can increase this percentage when you send rewards program messages via SMS.
With a high open rate and being an instant channel, the chances of people making purchases through their mobile phones are high. Send different types of SMSes for your rewards program, such as:
- Invite customers to join your rewards program
- Thank you SMS when customers join the rewards program
- Tell customers how to earn more reward points
- Offer more points on certain days
15. Replenishment reminders
Food and beverage are perishable items and hence need to be bought on a regular basis. Moreover, they have a shelf life and so, there’s a limit to how much customers can order at one time and stock up.
So, here’s what you must do:
- Analyze data to see repeat orders of customers
- If you notice a customer hasn’t made a purchase in a long time, send them a replenishment reminder via SMS
- Remember, keep the messaging personal
Here’s an example:
Hey Sam, isn’t it time to stock up on your favorite Ylang Ylang Organic Tea? We have some great deals going on. Check it out: www.food.com
16. Seasonal food updates
Many food and beverage items are seasonal. It’s possible that consumers lose track when a certain item is in season and available on your site. It’s a good opportunity for you to market to your SMS subscribers.
How does SMS help? Reach your customers just before the season or just when you stock seasonal products. This will help you stay ahead of your competition, and your customers will get the first taste (quite literally) of seasonal foods from your brand.
For example,
Josh, it’s the season we’ve all been waiting for – Strawberry. Check out of new range of strawberry food and beverage and order: www.food.com
17. Request for referrals
78% of marketers agree that referrals generate good leads. Referrals are a cost-effective way to generate more sales. Moreover, referred customers are more likely to buy from your site.
Sharing referral links via SMS makes the process faster. Moreover, you can track the response data and adapt or improve your referral SMS campaign if needed.
Here’s a referral SMS example to inspire you:
Hi Jack, Know a friend who’d like our Olive Kombucha? We’ll give them 10% off via this unique sharing link. And if they buy, you get a 10% off on your next order. (add referral link)
18. Back in stock alerts
Most F&B items have a short shelf life so they might be removed from the stock. Or, popular items might get sold out fast. For F&B online stores, stocked out items could mean a huge loss of sales.
Unless, you allow shoppers to sign up for restock notifications. Back in stock alerts sent via SMS generate more sales as shoppers can place the orders from their mobiles as soon as they receive the message.
For example,
Hi Frank, your favorite Yum Natural Chilli Cheddar is back in stock. Click the link to order: www.food.com.
Another example:
19. Flash sales SMS
SMS marketing comes in handy when you want to send out messages urgently. For example, you realize that a large stock of your inventory is going to expire soon and want to offer a discount on it. What do you do?
Instead of designing an email or an advert, you’d rather quickly draft a catchy SMS text and shoot it out. The sooner you send it out, the sooner you’ll be able to sell your stock.
In such urgent situations, SMS can help you save time and increase sales.
Here’s an example:
Get 40% off on (add item name) until stocks last. Hurry! Shop: www.food.com
20. Automated text messages
Automated SMS sent for common actions can help improve the customer experience as well as increase ROI because you don’t have to put in too much effort in writing or sending individual messages. These are common messages sent to customers in response to a specific action, such as:
- When a customer signs up, a welcome SMS
- A thank you message when a customer makes a purchase
- An order confirmation SMS
- An order dispatched SMS
See this example:
Hi John, Welcome to the club. Enjoy a 10% off on your first purchase from www.shop.com. Happy shopping!
But remember, keep the conversation two-way. Make your SMS campaigns conversational. Allow your subscribers to respond and interact with you over SMS. You can do much more with two-way SMS marketing for your food and beverage brand on Shopify.
Should your F&B brand include SMS marketing?
The answer is YES! Why not? SMS marketing has huge benefits for eCommerce brands. And if you’re worried about how to go about it, worry not! You don’t have to do it manually. Use an automated SMS marketing app such as TxtCart to help smooth-sail through the journey.
Ready to begin your Shopify SMS marketing campaigns?
