Do ecommerce stores need 10DLC registration?

Yes, to text from ordinary local numbers. You register a brand (legal business name and EIN) and a campaign describing your messages and how shoppers opt in. Since February 2025, US carriers block unregistered business traffic from local numbers. Signilio registers your brand and campaign during onboarding.

Is abandoned cart texting legal?

Yes, to shoppers who gave prior express written consent to marketing texts. An abandoned cart reminder encourages a purchase, so treat it as a marketing text: send it only to opted-in shoppers, name your store, include how to opt out, and keep it between 8am and 9pm in the shopper's local time.

Are order confirmation and shipping texts marketing?

No, they're informational, as long as they stay that way. Sent with automated systems they still need the shopper's consent. Add a discount code or a product pitch and the text becomes marketing, which needs written consent.

How do I collect SMS consent at checkout?

With a separate, unchecked box for texts, not bundled into your terms, that names your store, says the shopper agrees to receive marketing texts, gives the frequency, and says agreeing isn't a condition of purchase. Then send a confirmation text with STOP and HELP, and keep a record of each opt-in.

Can I move my SMS subscribers to a new platform?

Yes. Export your subscribers with their opt-in records and your opt-out list, and import the opt-outs before your first send. Signilio brings over your opt-out list when you switch.

How often should an online store send marketing texts?

As often as you told shoppers at sign-up and no more, keeping marketing texts between 8am and 9pm in their local time. Florida, Oklahoma and Maryland end the day at 8pm and also cap telephone solicitations at three per 24 hours on the same subject. Texting more than you promised raises opt-outs and complaints, which carriers watch.

Industry

Ecommerce SMS Marketing: Texting for Online Stores

How online stores collect SMS consent at checkout, send abandoned cart, order and shipping texts compliantly, register for 10DLC and control costs.

For an online store, texting does two jobs. It sells: launches, promotions and reminders about the cart a shopper left behind. And it serves: order confirmations, shipping updates and answers to "where's my order?". Both depend on the same thing, a list of shoppers who agreed to hear from you, and the two jobs follow different consent rules.

Collecting consent at checkout and on your site

Checkout. A separate, unchecked box for texts, not bundled into your terms, that names your store, says the shopper agrees to receive marketing texts at the number they gave, gives the frequency, and says agreeing isn't a condition of purchase. A phone number entered for delivery isn't consent to marketing texts.
Sign-up forms and pop-ups. The same disclosures, next to the phone field, before the shopper submits.
Text-to-join. A keyword on your site, packaging or ads that the shopper texts to join, with the same disclosures printed beside it.

Right after someone joins, send a confirmation text that names your program, says how often you'll text, notes that message and data rates may apply, and explains STOP and HELP. Keep your own record of when and where each shopper opted in and the exact wording they saw; Signilio doesn't keep that proof for you. See how to word SMS consent.

Marketing texts and order texts are different

Marketing texts need the shopper's prior express written consent when sent with automated systems: promotions, launches, back-in-stock offers and abandoned cart reminders, which are marketing because they encourage a purchase. Send them only to shoppers who opted in to marketing texts, and keep them between 8am and 9pm in the shopper's local time (the FCC's calling-hours rule for telephone solicitations, used as the window for every marketing text), and before 8pm in states like Florida, Oklahoma and Maryland, which also cap telephone solicitations at three per 24 hours on the same subject.
Order texts (confirmation, shipped, out for delivery, delivered) are informational. Sent with automated systems, they still need the shopper's consent, and they must stay informational: an order text that adds a discount code has become a marketing text.

Every marketing text names your store and says how to opt out. Treat an opt-out as covering all marketing from you, whatever list or flow it came in on. See SMS opt-out rules.

Moving your SMS list to a new platform

Your consent records and your opt-out list belong to you and should move with your subscribers. Export both, keep the opt-in records you'll need if consent is ever questioned, and import the opt-outs before your first send so no one who unsubscribed hears from you again. Signilio brings over your opt-out list when you switch; see switching to Signilio.

Picture messages, emoji and cost

Product photos sell, but picture messages cost more than plain texts: on Signilio, each one counts as 3 texts. Emoji can turn a one-segment text into two or three. Check before you send with the SMS cost calculator, and see why emoji cost more.

10DLC registration for online stores

Texting from local numbers means registering a brand (legal business name and EIN) and a campaign whose description and samples match what you send. A store that sends both promotions and order updates should register a campaign that covers both, and show its checkout consent wording on its website, where reviewers look. Since February 2025, US carriers block unregistered business traffic from local numbers. See 10DLC registration.

Some products can't be texted about on Signilio at all, whatever the consent: cannabis and CBD, tobacco, firearms, adult content, and alcohol where it's prohibited. See the Acceptable Use Policy.

What ecommerce texting costs on Signilio

Plans run from $34.99 a month for 1,000 texts to $189.99 a month for 12,000 texts, then 3¢ a text on Pro, with carrier fees included and replies free. Campaigns, segments, scheduling, workflows and keyword replies come on every plan, and order, shipping and abandoned cart texts are sent from your store's own systems through the API and webhooks. Above 50,000 texts a month, pricing is custom. See pricing.

None of this is legal advice; have counsel review your program before you send.

Sample texts for ecommerce

Starting points to adapt. Bracketed fields are merge fields or your own details; every marketing text names your business and says how to opt out.

Welcome (opt-in confirmation)

[Your store]: welcome! Expect up to 6 texts a month with launches and offers. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to opt out.

Abandoned cart (opted-in shoppers)

[Your store]: you left [Item] in your cart. It's still there if you want it: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out.

Order shipped

[Your store]: order #[Order number] has shipped. Track it here: [link].

Launch (opted-in shoppers)

[Your store]: the [Collection] drops tomorrow at 10am. Early access for text subscribers: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out.

Common questions

Do ecommerce stores need 10DLC registration?: Yes, to text from ordinary local numbers. You register a brand (legal business name and EIN) and a campaign describing your messages and how shoppers opt in. Since February 2025, US carriers block unregistered business traffic from local numbers. Signilio registers your brand and campaign during onboarding.
Is abandoned cart texting legal?: Yes, to shoppers who gave prior express written consent to marketing texts. An abandoned cart reminder encourages a purchase, so treat it as a marketing text: send it only to opted-in shoppers, name your store, include how to opt out, and keep it between 8am and 9pm in the shopper's local time.
Are order confirmation and shipping texts marketing?: No, they're informational, as long as they stay that way. Sent with automated systems they still need the shopper's consent. Add a discount code or a product pitch and the text becomes marketing, which needs written consent.
How do I collect SMS consent at checkout?: With a separate, unchecked box for texts, not bundled into your terms, that names your store, says the shopper agrees to receive marketing texts, gives the frequency, and says agreeing isn't a condition of purchase. Then send a confirmation text with STOP and HELP, and keep a record of each opt-in.
Can I move my SMS subscribers to a new platform?: Yes. Export your subscribers with their opt-in records and your opt-out list, and import the opt-outs before your first send. Signilio brings over your opt-out list when you switch.
How often should an online store send marketing texts?: As often as you told shoppers at sign-up and no more, keeping marketing texts between 8am and 9pm in their local time. Florida, Oklahoma and Maryland end the day at 8pm and also cap telephone solicitations at three per 24 hours on the same subject. Texting more than you promised raises opt-outs and complaints, which carriers watch.