How Billini Built a Cleaner Subscriber List and Scaled SMS With Confidence

Billini needed SMS it could scale with confidence

Billini had two priorities as the team looked to grow SMS: find a competitive rate that made the channel viable, and make sure its spend reached people who wanted to hear from the brand.

Before moving to Attentive, Billini mainly sent campaigns. Due to limited budget and a laser focus on clear return projections, Billini kept the program concentrated on bigger campaign moments. They were keen to see what could happen if they used SMS more strategically, while keeping costs and returns clear. List quality was another concern for the team: if a number was incorrect or belonged to someone else, the message—and its cost—would miss the intended subscriber.

“We wanted SMS to become a channel we could grow. The cost needed to make sense, and we needed confidence that the people on our list actually wanted to hear from us.” — Emily Troian, Senior Digital & Ecommerce Manager, Billini

‍

Why Billini chose Attentive

Attentive offered Billini pricing that made expanding its SMS program—locally and globally—more viable. But for Emily, the biggest differentiator was how two-tap™ helped the team build a more reliable subscriber list.

With two-tap™, shoppers can subscribe by tapping to open a pre-filled text message and sending it from their phone. They don't have to enter their number manually, reducing the chance of incorrect numbers caused by typing errors. Because shoppers initiate the conversation, Billini has a clearer indication that new subscribers are opting in from the number they're using.

For Billini, that meant greater confidence in its growing subscriber list and a stronger foundation for expanding its SMS program.

“The biggest difference for us was knowing that customers had confirmed their number and wanted to hear from us. That gave us the confidence to scale SMS and invest in it.” — Emily Troian, Senior Digital & Ecommerce Manager, Billini

The first Attentive campaigns provided another reason to move ahead. Emily said the response was “incredible,” and that the team saw the value of its investment come back. Attentive’s team guided Billini through setup and best practices, getting the program live within a couple of days. That support continued beyond launch, with the team helping Billini test its sign-up experience and identify opportunities to improve subscriber growth.

“The Attentive team made the setup really easy. We were up and running within a day or two—even during a busy sale.” — Emily Troian, Senior Digital & Ecommerce Manager, Billini

‍

Cleaning the list and verifying new subscribers

During the trial, Attentive audited Billini’s existing SMS list and found errors the team hadn’t spotted before. The review filtered invalid and duplicate records, reducing the list by 19.4%.

That audit improved the quality of Billini’s existing list, while two-tap™ addressed new sign-ups going forward by adding a verification step. Together, those measures gave the team more confidence that SMS spend was reaching the right people. That changed how Billini thought about scaling: the team could invest more in SMS without feeling like it was “pouring money out” and hoping a message reached the right person.

Beyond cleaning up its existing list, Billini worked with the Attentive team to test ways to bring in more subscribers. As part of that ongoing support, the team ran an A/B test comparing sign-up units with and without a pre-engagement step. The version with pre-engagement achieved a 67% higher SMS sign-up rate and an 80% higher email sign-up rate, giving Billini a clearer understanding of which sign-up experience performed best.

Beyond the test, Billini saw a significant increase in subscriber growth. Email subscriber acquisition grew 17.1x compared with its previous program, giving the team a larger audience to reach through campaigns and automated journeys.

‍

Using SMS to reach shoppers at the right moment

With more confidence in its subscriber list and SMS costs, Billini increased its investment in the channel, particularly automated journeys. The team also began sending campaigns more frequently, expanding SMS beyond major promotional moments.

Checkout-abandonment messages gave Billini a way to reconnect with shoppers who were close to purchasing but hadn’t completed their order. SMS enabled the team to follow up more quickly than email, particularly after hours when shoppers may be less likely to check their inboxes. Since launching in July 2026, the journey has generated five-figure attributed revenue, alongside a strong 15.5% click-through rate, demonstrating the value of timely, targeted SMS in converting high-intent shoppers.

Billini also uses SMS for pre-orders, product drops, and other moments of connection. As the brand invests in bringing new shoppers to the site, SMS gives it another way to reconnect with them.

“SMS has become a second catch for customers who may not respond to email. It gives us a timely way to reach shoppers while they’re still interested.”  — Emily Troian, Senior Digital & Ecommerce Manager, Billini

Triggered journeys and more targeted campaigns let Billini reach shoppers based on the products or categories they’d looked at, making messages feel more personal, timely, and engaging.

‍

Building stronger customer relationships with SMS

For Billini, growing SMS isn't just about sending more messages. It's about reaching shoppers who have chosen to hear from the brand, responding to what they're interested in, and giving them relevant reasons to return. All of this supports their customer retention efforts. 

“Acquiring new customers takes a lot of investment. Retaining customers beyond their first purchase and using automations to nurture long-term loyalty and drive repeat purchases was key for us.” — Emily Troian, Senior Digital & Ecommerce Manager, Billini

With a cleaner subscriber list and automated journeys in place, Billini has expanded SMS beyond major campaign moments. The team can now reconnect with shoppers who leave checkout, bring visitors back during sales, and share timely updates about pre-orders and product launches.

‍

Ready to build a stronger SMS program?

See how Attentive helps you grow your subscriber list and reach shoppers with timely, relevant text messages.

‍