SMS channel
Why this matters for your business
SMS is the channel of urgency. Open rates 97%+, average read time 3 minutes, and the message lands in the same notification stream as your customer's most important communications. That's why it's powerful — and that's why regulators treat it more carefully than any other channel. A2P 10DLC in the US, GDPR in EU, A2P in India, the UK PECR — each has rules about who you can text, when, and what disclosures must appear. Get any of them wrong and your shortcode gets revoked, your messages stop delivering, or worse, you face direct financial penalties.
The SMS channel on this platform handles regulation by design. Twilio-powered delivery with auto-handled A2P 10DLC registration, per-country quiet-hours enforcement, opt-in capture with audit-grade consent text, and the same fatigue cap as WhatsApp (strict — typically 1/day/customer). The result: SMS that performs and stays compliant, without you needing to track every regulator's latest rule change.
What this typically unlocks
| Outcome | Result |
|---|---|
| SMS open rate | 97% |
| Click-through rate | 18-30% vs. email's 2-5% |
| A2P 10DLC compliance | automatic |
| Per-customer SMS cost | $0.0075-$0.045 depending on country |
| Carrier filtering / drops | near 0 with proper setup |
| Setup time (including 10DLC review) | 2-4 weeks for US |
What you actually get
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Twilio backend | Industry-leading deliverability + carrier relationships |
| A2P 10DLC handling (US) | Auto-register your business + use case; track approval |
| Multi-country | Send to 100+ countries with country-specific rules |
| Opt-in capture | Compliant double-opt-in with consent text logging |
| Quiet hours | Per-country defaults; configurable per shop |
| Daily fatigue cap | 1/day per customer typical; tunable |
| Stop / Help auto-handling | "STOP" texts auto-unsubscribe globally |
| Short URLs | Auto-shorten + track clicks (Twilio Click Tracking) |
| Delivery receipts | Real-time per-message status |
| Cost tracking | Per-country, per-campaign |
Regional reality check
| Region | Regulation | Setup time |
|---|---|---|
| US | A2P 10DLC required | 2-4 weeks (one-time) |
| Canada | CRTC + STAR registration | 1-2 weeks |
| UK | OFCOM + numbers approval | 1 week |
| EU | GDPR + per-country | < 1 week |
| Australia | Spam Act registration | 3-5 days |
| India | DLT registration via TRAI | 2-3 weeks |
| Most others | Pre-approved sender ID | < 1 week |
For US: A2P 10DLC is the most consequential — without proper registration, your messages get filtered or rate-limited by carriers. The platform handles registration but you must provide accurate business + use-case info during onboarding.
How sending works
Quiet hours per country
The system enforces sensible defaults:
| Country | Quiet hours (local) |
|---|---|
| US | 8pm-9am |
| Canada | 9pm-9am |
| UK | 9pm-9am |
| EU (most) | 9pm-8am |
| Australia | 8pm-9am |
| India | 9pm-10am |
You can override per shop, but defaults follow regulator expectations. Sending at 2 AM customer-local is the fastest way to get carrier-flagged.
STOP handling (mandatory)
Every promotional SMS must include "Reply STOP to unsubscribe." The platform auto-includes if missing. When a customer texts STOP:
- Within 1 second: SMS marked unsubscribed
- Within ~3 seconds: global unsubscribe propagates (sets
unsubscribedAton Customer 360 — affects all channels per merchant configuration) - Confirmation auto-reply sent: "You have been unsubscribed. Reply HELP for assistance."
Texting "HELP" returns auto-reply with brand contact info. These are mandatory under US A2P; the platform handles them.
Real merchant scenarios
Scenario A — Flash sale via SMS
Setup. $2M brand, 4K SMS-opted-in customers (US). Wants to fire flash sale at noon Friday.
Send: "[Brand] 20% off everything ends midnight. Shop: [short URL] Reply STOP to opt out."
Outcome:
- 4K sent in ~90 seconds
- 96% delivered (3.8K)
- 32% click-through (1.2K visits)
- 8.4% conversion (340 orders, $42 AOV)
- Total revenue: $14,280
- Total send cost: ~$30 (4K × $0.0075)
- Net: $14,250 in 90 minutes
ROAS on send cost: 475×.
Scenario B — Order shipped notification (transactional)
Setup. Brand sends "Your order #12345 has shipped! Track: [short URL]" via SMS.
Customer impact:
- Open within 5 minutes: 92%
- Click-through to tracking: 64%
- Support tickets "where is my order?": dropped 38% after enabling SMS shipping notifications
Transactional SMS doesn't require marketing opt-in (legitimate interest). Cost ~$0.01 per send; saves ~$5 per support ticket avoided.
Scenario C — Multi-country brand handles compliance
Setup. Brand selling in US + Canada + UK + Australia.
Configuration per country:
- US: A2P 10DLC registered, quiet hours 8pm-9am
- Canada: STAR registered, quiet hours 9pm-9am
- UK: Sender ID approved, quiet hours 9pm-9am
- Australia: Spam Act registered, quiet hours 8pm-9am
Operational impact: Marketing manager schedules a global flash send for "11am New York time." Platform automatically:
- Sends to US at 11am ET
- Sends to UK at 4pm BST (their day, not quiet)
- Holds Australia for next morning (would be 1am AEST = quiet)
Result: No opt-out spike from quiet-hours violations. ~3% better conversion vs. blasting all at once.
Scenario D — A2P 10DLC registration nightmare averted
Setup. US brand wanted to start SMS marketing. Without the platform, A2P 10DLC registration is a 4-page form, multiple use-case decisions, fees ($4 brand + $10/use-case + $1.50/number/month), and 2-4 weeks of waiting.
With platform: Onboarding wizard collects info, submits on brand's behalf, tracks approval status. ~2 weeks from "start" to "fully approved + ready to send."
Brand never touched the carrier portal directly.
Best practices
✅ Use SMS sparingly. 1/day cap is a starting point; 2-3/week per customer is plenty for most brands.
✅ Always include STOP language. Required by regulators; also required by carriers; messages without get filtered.
✅ Use short URLs (auto-shortened). Carriers penalize long URLs; click tracking only works on shortened.
✅ Lead with the brand name. First word should be your brand so the customer knows who's texting.
✅ Test on multiple carriers. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile filter slightly differently; use the platform's seed test.
❌ Don't send marketing SMS without explicit opt-in. US penalty for non-compliant SMS is up to $1,500 per violation.
❌ Don't include emoji-heavy content. Older phones render poorly; some carriers filter.
❌ Don't send during quiet hours. Carrier filters detect this; even if delivered, customer complaints follow.
❌ Don't bypass STOP processing. Even one bypass invites complaint + carrier audit.
Plan tiers
| Capability | Free | Starter | Pro | Agency | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transactional SMS | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Marketing SMS | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| A2P 10DLC auto-registration | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-country sending | — | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Per-country quiet hours | — | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Auto STOP/HELP handling | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Click tracking | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Delivery analytics | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-shop sender management | — | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |