Discover how precise timing, targeted content, and loyalty-driven experiences can help brands strengthen relationships, enhance retention, and drive revenue growth.

What drives consumers to sign up for branded communications, stay engaged, and make purchases? To find out, we surveyed 2,500 UK shoppers. From determining which channels to use to what messaging drives full-priced purchases, this report reveals the strategies that turn interest into action.

Key Takeaways

SMS and email marketing are most impactful when aligned with consumer preferences, personalized experiences, and timely delivery. When orchestrated strategically, these channels drive sign-ups, boost conversions, and foster lasting customer loyalty.

Read on to discover:

• How personalization and value-based incentives accelerate SMS and email sign-ups across customer segments
• The distinct yet complementary roles of SMS and email, and how to align messaging with each channel’s strengths
• Why tailored communications based on behavior, timing, and lifecycle stages lead to higher engagement and revenue
• How AI, segmentation, and RCS features enhance personalization at scale
• The critical role of loyalty programs, exclusivity, and consistent cross-channel messaging in building long-term customer relationships

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Accelerate SMS and email sign-ups with personalization and incentives

According to our survey, SMS opt-ins are primarily driven by clear and immediate benefits. For example, 43% of consumers would share their phone numbers in exchange for free shipping, and 42% would do so for free gifts. Beyond transactional incentives, SMS also appeals to those seeking exclusivity:

• 36% are motivated by early access to sales
• 35% by early product launches
• 32% are open to receiving personalized recommendations via SMS

While email achieves higher opt-in rates across all incentive types, educational content, such as product how-tos, sees the willingness rate jump from 27% for SMS to 70% for email. This reflects the distinct strengths of each channel. SMS is effective at prompting sign-ups through savings and VIP perks, while email can attract subscribers with the promise of content-rich experiences. 

Brands should also focus on making their sign-up units interactive—44% of UK respondents value answering a question (for example, “Would you like to receive a discount?” or “What is your skin type?”) if it leads to a benefit like a discount or personalized content. Additionally, 30% say it enhances the site experience, and 26% feel it makes the sign-up process more personal. Adding a value-driven step to the sign-up process can help brands build an engaged subscriber list faster.

Attentive’s range of pre-engagement steps are easy to implement and enables brands to ask questions that boost sign-up rates and subscriber quality from the start. 

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Deliver relevant communications by differentiating SMS and email roles

In 2024, 92% of consumers who subscribed to a brand’s SMS program also engaged with that brand’s emails, with 13% reading all and 39% reading most. By 2025, this rose to 97%, with 19% reading all and 47% reading most. SMS subscribers are highly engaged across multiple channels, showing that SMS and email can complement each other rather than compete. This trend is particularly noticeable among younger, affluent, and family-oriented consumers.

Consumers want a mix of alerts across different channels, and SMS plays a vital role in conveying real-time updates and adding a personal touch. The survey revealed that:

• 44% of consumers expect to receive shipping updates via text message
• Followed by 37% who look for order confirmations
• 31% value birthday messages

All of which are best suited to SMS due to their time-sensitive and personal nature. In contrast, differences emerged for more detailed notifications. For example, 55% of respondents preferred brand news via email compared to 17% who said SMS, and 56% favored email for product previews, while 16% opted for SMS. 

These findings underscore a growing demand for channel-level message control. A significant 84% of respondents—50% completely agree and 34% somewhat agree—want to customize the types of messages they receive from brands based on the channel. Additionally, 70% of consumers—29% completely agree and 41% somewhat agree—believe email and SMS should serve distinct roles. This reinforces the idea that brands should differentiate their communication strategies across channels, using email for detailed content and SMS for time-sensitive notifications. By aligning messages with the strengths of each channel, brands can deliver more relevant and engaging communications to their customers.

We recognize the critical importance of a nuanced, multi-channel CRM strategy. The data is clear: consumers want tailored communications. For us, text message marketing isn't just an add-on; it's an indispensable arm of our CRM, designed to cut through the digital noise with precision. By leveraging SMS for timely, impactful notifications and reserving email for richer, more detailed content, we ensure our messages resonate, delivering an experience that is both relevant and respectful of our customers' preferences.
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-  Lisa Nielson, Senior Digital Marketing Manager, Victoria Beckham

Improving the shopping experience with the right communication

Personalized communication is essential to enhancing the customer experience and fostering brand loyalty. In fact:

• 80% of consumers agree that they feel more connected to brands that understand their needs
• 78% are more likely to purchase products from a brand that makes relevant purchase suggestions
• 77% want brands to tailor messages based on their preferences and past purchases

This highlights the importance of relevant messaging and a desire for smarter, more responsive marketing, especially as consumers are increasingly frustrated with irrelevant, generic messages. The vast majority (79%) report ignoring marketing communications that don't resonate with them, and 71% feel frustrated by generic messages about products they have no interest in. Brands that fail to personalize risk alienating customers and losing their loyalty. 

When it comes to expected communications, 67% of consumers said sales or price drop alerts, revealing that consumers prioritize practical, timely, and value-driven updates. Furthermore, sales or price drop alerts remain the most desired forms of communication, with 50% of consumers wanting more. Conversational engagement is also a growing opportunity, with 29% of consumers expressing an interest in more two-way texting with brands.

Attentive’s Two-Way Journeys™ allows brands to build dynamic, two-way conversations with subscribers to uncover unique customer preferences and guide them towards purchase decisions.

The survey revealed strong consumer interest in SMS communications from brands, with 93% of respondents valuing these messages across various industries. When asked about their preferred sectors for SMS marketing, consumers showed the strongest interest in:

• Food and beverage, preferred by 57% of consumers
• Followed by travel and hospitality at 45%
• Apparel at 44%
• Health and beauty at 42%  

Regarding product recommendations:

• 70% of consumers are interested in receiving personalized suggestions from travel and hospitality brands
• 62% from pet care brands
• 61% from health and beauty brands

This interest is likely driven by factors such as choice overload, product variety, or the need for more education.

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Drive purchases with targeted messaging

Consumers are increasingly influenced by SMS marketing when making purchase decisions. Survey insights highlight that 55% of consumers have purchased an item marketed to them via text message.

Personalized notifications are highly effective. The survey found that:

• 78% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase after receiving restock notifications
• 68% after receiving loyalty point reminders
• 62% are more inclined to act on personalized sales alerts 

These findings demonstrate that scarcity, value, and tailored experiences are key drivers of consumer action. Shoppers also respond positively to product-specific reminders, with 55% more likely to make a purchase after receiving product recommendations and 50% more likely after receiving low-stock reminders. 

To enhance personalization, brands should prioritize their segmentation strategies, as irrelevant or batch-and-blast messaging can have a negative effect. Over one in four consumers stated that generic messages make them less likely to purchase, indicating that personalization is crucial for conversions. Additionally, 78% of consumers are more likely to buy when suggestions are relevant.

Consistency across communication channels also enhances impact, with 58% of consumers agreeing they are more likely to make a purchase when they have received the same promotion across channels, such as email and SMS. To make the promotion effective across platforms, brands should tailor the messaging to the strengths of each channel.

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Align message timing with consumer behaviors to prompt action

Nearly half of consumers surveyed say messages are perfectly timed when they're actively shopping, while 43% appreciate timely reminders when it's time to reorder. This suggests that behavioral triggers such as browsing activity, cart abandonment, and product refill cycles are key to ensuring message relevance.

Contextual and seasonal timing also influences brand messaging effectiveness. When sent before holidays or special occasions, 38% of consumers see messages as well-timed, making this an ideal window for gifting prompts, seasonal product launches, or limited-time offers. Furthermore, outside of BFCM, Christmas, Boxing Day, summer sales, and January sales are top occasions when consumers are likely to make unplanned purchases and spend more than usual. Another strong driver of timing is payday, with 35% of consumers indicating that brand messages feel particularly relevant right after receiving their paycheck. 

At Visualsoft, we recommend taking a phased approach to campaigns around key spending seasons. Rather than focusing solely on launch day, build anticipation early with sneak peeks or early-access sign-ups, followed by a strong conversion push closer to the peak moment. Copy should evolve through each phase—teasing value at the start, reinforcing urgency mid-campaign, and ending with final-call messaging.
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-  Sarah Allen, Director of Digital Delivery, VisualSoft

Discounts and offers are a powerful driver for purchases, with 48% of consumers more likely to buy when there’s a sale. For more routine purchases, 37% of shoppers place an order when they need to restock, emphasizing the importance of replenishment campaigns. Paycheck cycles also continue to influence purchasing decisions, with 31% more likely to make a purchase aligned with pay cycles, making it essential for brands to time their campaigns to coincide with end-of-month or biweekly payroll rhythms.

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Meet consumer expectations with AI

Convenience is at the core of how consumers perceive the value of AI, with 47% stating that the primary benefit is its ability to help them find what they want more easily. An additional 46% appreciate the speed and ease it brings to the shopping process. These insights reveal that consumers primarily view AI as a time-saving tool and a means to enhance search.

AI is also making a noticeable impact on personalization. One in three consumers feel that AI-driven product recommendations are “spot on,” and 31% cite receiving more relevant marketing messages as a key benefit. Consumers prioritize getting what they need quickly and feeling understood by brands.

Unpersonalized messaging proves costly for brands, with 84% of consumers willing to unsubscribe from generic communications. Consumer patience runs thin—16% abandon brands after a single irrelevant message, while 29% give up after just two to three. This highlights the importance of personalization in retaining customer engagement and preventing list erosion. The solution lies in AI-powered tools that enable brands to deliver tailored, meaningful experiences at scale.

Attentive AI™ empowers marketers to exceed growing customer expectations while driving better results. It enables optimized content, timing, and targeting strategies that maximize ROI, resulting in improved engagement, stronger customer loyalty, and increased revenue.

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Increase AOV and full-priced purchases with segmentation and scarcity tactics

Findings show customized product recommendations are among the most valued forms of non-promotional messaging. Recommendations based on shopping history are considered the most helpful by 52% of respondents, as they reflect past behavior and offer relevant value beyond promotions. When it comes to full-price shoppers, newness and practicality also play a key role. News about new product launches is appreciated by 46% of consumers, while 44% find product care and styling tips valuable.

Building on this, personalization and exclusivity further drive full-price purchases. The survey found that 63% of consumers will pay full price when the product is exactly what they need, underscoring the importance of behavior-based segmentation, and 50% of consumers will pay full price for a product they've been anticipating, showing that brand loyalty, product affinity, and pre-launch anticipation can often override the desire for a discount. Additionally, scarcity-based tactics, such as fear of product selling out or limited edition, can influence purchase decisions, with 34% and 31% of consumers citing these factors as reasons for paying full price.

Consumers also value certain types of non-promotional content in texts and emails, which can influence future purchase decisions. The top three types of content that make consumers more likely to buy from a brand are:

• Order updates at 45%
• News about product launches at 35%
• Product recommendations based on shopping history or information shared with the brand at 32%

These findings further underscore the importance of timely, relevant, and personalized communications in driving future purchases and long-term engagement.

At Represent, loyalty goes far beyond transactions. Our most engaged customers aren’t waiting on discounts; they’re deeply invested in the product, the journey, and the story. Through tailored SMS and email content, we focus on product drops, behind-the-scenes moments, and personalized recommendations that build long-term trust and keep our community coming back.
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-  Niall Young O'Brien, CRM Manager, Represent Clothing

According to the survey, 64% of loyal customers will purchase without waiting for sales, suggesting that brand loyalty significantly reduces price sensitivity. SMS marketing is particularly effective in engaging loyal customers, making it an ideal tool for brands to communicate with their most dedicated consumers. Moreover, 19% of consumers indicated that being part of a loyalty or VIP program would influence them to spend more than planned, up from 13% in 2024, showing that fostering loyalty can directly impact revenue.

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Cultivate retention and loyalty with value adds and exclusivity

Brand loyalty is selective, with most consumers reserving their loyalty for just a handful of brands. The survey found that 42% of respondents are loyal to 1–5 brands, and 32% are loyal to 6–10 brands. This highlights the importance of building lasting relationships with a targeted group of loyal customers.

Messages from favorite brands have a powerful impact on consumer behavior. While 67% of consumers say these messages stand out even without discounts, 54% report being more likely to make a purchase simply because the message came from a brand they love. This sense of brand affinity also influences buying behavior around new products—42% of loyal customers reported purchasing a product shortly after its launch. 

SMS further strengthens these brand-consumer connections; one in three consumers said that being part of a brand’s SMS program led them to switch brands and make a purchase, underscoring SMS as a valuable tool for building loyalty and driving conversions. Loyal customers are also more likely to engage with brands across multiple channels—42% engage across text, app, email, and social media, making omnichannel engagement an essential strategy for nurturing long-term loyalty. When asked what distinguishes their favorite brands from others:

• 45% said it’s having their preferences understood
• Another 45% said it was feeling valued
• 36% appreciate it when past purchases, preferences, and interactions are remembered  

To gain loyalty, brands must create an elevated experience, and to keep it, brands must provide tangible rewards and exclusivity. Consumers place a high value on loyalty program benefits, with:

• 65% wanting redeemable points or special offers, 
• 52% seeking exclusive perks such as members-only sales
• 47% looking for early access to new products

The survey findings highlight the importance of personalization, timely communication, and loyalty-driven incentives in enhancing customer engagement and driving sales. By strategizing SMS and email, aligning messaging with consumer behaviors, and offering tailored experiences, brands can build stronger customer relationships that improve customer retention and drive ROI.

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Enhance trust, ease the discovery phase, and boost revenue with RCS

Consumers show strong interest in RCS’s unique features, which cater to their desire for a more interactive, secure, and seamless shopping experience. According to the survey:

• 80% value being able to check their order status with visual tracking updates within text conversations
• 74% appreciate carrier-verified messages
• 59% find value in browsing multiple products directly within a message

These features not only enhance the customer experience but also drive conversions—69% of consumers say that verified brand messaging increases their likelihood of purchasing, and 58% say the same about the ability to browse products within the message. This reflects growing demand for security, transparency, and frictionless transitions from discovery to purchase—areas where RCS outperforms traditional SMS.

Further supporting this, 41% of consumers consider easily finding exactly what they want to be the most influential factor in their purchase decisions, and 25% said discovering new products that match their tastes has the greatest impact. By leveraging RCS features such as in-message product carousels, brands can enhance and simplify product discovery, helping shoppers find what they need without the frustration of extensive searching.

At eComplete, SMS marketing isn’t just another channel, it’s a core part of how we drive real-time revenue for our brands and clients lets us build stronger relationships with our customers. Whether it’s a flash sale, a low-stock alert, or a reminder to complete a routine, SMS lets us meet customers where they are with relevance and intent. The performance speaks for itself: it’s quick to deploy, easy to test, and consistently delivers. With Attentive’s support, we’re able to execute all of this at speed.
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-  Jake Heath, Head of eCommerce, eComplete Group

Attentive helps brands exceed customer expectations by delivering relevant, personalized RCS messaging. With features like URL previews, suggested replies and actions, and extended metrics such as CTRs, button clicks, and delivery statistics, Attentive makes improving trust, engagement, and conversions easier.

Curious how UK consumer behavior has evolved? Dive into our 2024 SMS Marketing Report to compare YoY trends. For a broader view, explore our 2025 Global Survey for fresh insights from the UK, US, and Australia, all in one place.

Methodology

Attentive’s consumer survey reports were conducted in:

January 2025. Based on answers from 1,000 respondents in the United Kingdom.

May 2025. Based on answers from 1,500 respondents in the United Kingdom.