SMS (Short Message Service or otherwise known more commonly as ‘Text’ or ‘Texting’) is the most pervasive digital data application in the world with 2.4 billion active users, or 74% of all mobile phone subscribers sending and receiving text messages on their phones.  In the US alone, in 2008 there was about 75 billion message sent per month.  These sort of numbers should make any marketer pay attention.

Here at ShopLocal we have been live for about year with SMS messaging in a variety of applications. One of the unique aspects of how ShopLocal has applied texting technology is for on-demand, ad-hoc alerting and messaging.  Instead of trying to “subscribe” a user to a series of ongoing message, ShopLocal uses text message as a way of moving content from a user’s computer to their more portable mobile device.  So users that choose to engage this SMS feature on any ShopLocal site are NOT signing up for a never-ending stream of messages, but rather just one (1) single message to help the user take some information they have identified as useful with them.

The core value proposition is simple then.  If a user knows where your store is and/or knows an item they want to purchase, the more sticky and portable this information can be the better.  Since the goal of the SmartCircular sites is to drive shoppers that are researching online into a physical store location to make a purchase, this type of shopper tool should increase the ‘conversion’ rate of these type of consumers.

By using text or SMS messages, there are loads of benefits not available to any other medium such as:

• Ubiquitous format across carriers and mobile devices
• Highest deliverability rate of any pushed based medium
• Messages are sent as the action happens which creates instant user gratification
• 95%+ of all US mobile subscribers are supported which includes all the major carriers such as Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, US Cellular, AMP’d, Alltel, etc, etc, etc (all due to picking the right underlying mobile platform partner – 4INFO)

With text or SMS messages, there are a few constraints to be aware of (so as to tell a balanced story):

• Only 160 total characters can be inserted into any one (1) outbound SMS message. This is an inherent limitation of this type of media
• Can’t track opens like you can with email. You can track sent and click thrus but open rates are not available
• Privacy and permission are managed at the highest tolerances. The mobile carriers often remind anyone that is sending message across their walled networks that unlike email where
• To prevent SPAM, no more than 5 unique messages can be sent to any given user within a 24 hour period
• This service is only available in the US.  Sorry Canada…

The two main use cases that ShopLocal currently supports with mobile text (SMS) messaging are:

1. Send A Store Location Of Interest To Your Mobile Phone (just one)
2. Send A Specific Item Of Interest To Your Mobile Phone (just one)

Here is a partial list of some of the retailer that have chosen to deploy this type of mobile messaging – just click to see and use live examples of this mobile feature:

• The Home Depot Online Weekly Ad Site
  • From the initial entry page, this feature is in the left hand nav and labeled ‘Send Location To Mobile Phone’
• Office Depot Online Advertised Specials (weekly ad) Site
  • From the initial entry page, this feature is in the left hand nav and labeled ‘Send To Phone’
• Toys”R”Us Store Ads (weekly ad) Site
  • From the initial entry page, this feature is in the top nav and labeled ‘Forward To Mobile’