By Cheryl Sanders, General Manager, Text Messaging Solutions, Listrak
It’s that time of year for spring cleaning – when everything from baseboards to carpets to fixtures get dusted and refreshed. For retail marketers, it’s also a great time to connect with legal and compliance colleagues to make sure that mobile marketing programs are spotless, too.
For retailers, text-message marketing continues to build momentum – and drive revenues. According to Listrak’s 2025 Cross-Channel Benchmark Report, SMS conversion rates rose by 47% year-over-year – reflecting a shift towards stronger mobile and personalized shopping habits.
That statistic means that it is paramount your program continues to run uninterrupted, making it important for marketers to meet with their legal and compliance colleagues for some “housekeeping.” As marketers know, mobile is highly regulated. Diligent compliance is essential and digital marketers must ensure they are following relevant rules, regulations and best practices.
Here are three key areas for marketers to refresh:
Dust up on quiet hours policies:
Compliance rules dictate the maximum number of messages a contact can receive within a 24-hour timeframe, and when to send them. Some states have even written their own legislation in the last year limiting what’s known as ‘Quiet Hours’ to a smaller window. Retail marketing campaigns should never be sent in the middle of the night or early morning hours. Narrowing in on a smaller window in the middle of the day, between 10 AM and 5 PM local time, helps improve engagement KPIs like Click-Through Rate and Conversion Rate even further.
Streamline system messages.
System Messages are the automatic replies to select inbound keywords received from any contact, subscribed or otherwise. Mandated by carriers, examples of system messages include Help, Stop, and replies to invalid responses to prompts like an Age Gate or double opt-in. Ideally marketers set them up just once during program setup and provisioning, but they should be reviewed seasonally with legal counsel to ensure all information is correct and up to date.
Tidy up on shopping cart abandonment.
Shopping cart messages are essential triggered messages that drive conversion and are fundamental for retailers to implement in SMS to boost overall revenue. In recent years, both the wireless carriers and CTIA – The Wireless Trade Association have written guidelines specific to Shopping Cart Abandonment text messaging, which must be sent within a specified time period. Shopping Cart Abandonment text messages must be delivered within 48 hours of the abandonment event and may not exceed one reminder per event, per subscriber.
When marketers intend to include cart abandonment messaging as part of their program strategy, their Calls to Action must indicate that their text message programs may deliver content associated with shopping cart reminders. Additionally, double opt-in should be leveraged to confirm consumers are aware of this messaging type, and language within the first text message a subscriber receives must include a reference to receiving cart reminders.
Making “spring cleaning” an ongoing routine
While SMS marketing has quickly become one of the most powerful tools in retail marketing, compliance with the associated strict regulations isn’t optional—and missteps can lead to penalties and be damaging to brand reputation.
Whether at spring time or at any time throughout the year, it is important for marketers and their legal and compliance colleagues to plan regular check-ins to review and refresh their mobile marketing program compliance, ensuring this powerful marketing tool is set up for success.
About the Author
Cheryl Sanders is General Manager, Text Messaging Solutions, at Listrak, which recently issued its Compliance Lookbook.
