Email vs SMS for affiliate cart-recovery angles — the cost flips the answer

Email vs SMS for affiliate cart-recovery angles — the cost flips the answer

When a brand lets affiliates plug into abandoned-cart flows, you choose the channel:

— Email: free-ish, longer copy room, but 20% open rate and your affiliate link buried.

— SMS: 98% open, instant, but you've got 160 characters and it costs per send.

The move: email for the soft nudge + value, SMS only for the time-boxed 'code expires tonight' hit.

SMS-only test on a flash sale pulled 11% recovery vs email's 3%. But on full-price items, email won because SMS felt aggressive.

Match channel to urgency. Save SMS for real deadlines or you torch the list.

Pick ONE flow to add SMS to this week.