Do retail stores need 10DLC registration?

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

How do I build an SMS list for my store?

Ask customers to join where they already are: a text-to-join keyword at checkout and on signs with the disclosures printed beside it, a website form with an unchecked consent box, or a sign-up at the counter. Send a confirmation text right away with your program name, how often you'll text, message and data rates, and STOP and HELP.

How often can a store send marketing texts?

There's no single federal limit, but text only as often as you told customers at sign-up, and keep 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. Sending more than you promised is the fastest way to raise opt-outs and complaints.

Do picture messages cost more than texts?

On Signilio, yes: each picture message counts as 3 texts toward the plan's allowance. Save photos for launches and products where the picture sells.

Can I text customers whose numbers I have from past orders?

Not for marketing, unless they agreed to marketing texts. A number given for an order or a receipt isn't consent to promotions. Invite them to join your text list instead.

What products can't be promoted by text on Signilio?

Cannabis and CBD, tobacco, firearms, adult content and alcohol where it's prohibited are not allowed on Signilio, regardless of consent or registration. The Acceptable Use Policy has the full list.

Industry

SMS Marketing for Retail Stores

How retail stores build an SMS list, send promotions customers want, follow carrier rules, register for 10DLC and keep texting costs down.

For a store, a text list is the shortest path to a sale: a promotion lands on a customer's phone and gets read, usually within minutes. Retail SMS marketing works when the list is made of people who asked to join, the messages are worth opening, and the store stays inside the rules carriers and the law set for marketing texts. Selling mainly online? See ecommerce SMS marketing.

How stores build an SMS list

Keyword at checkout and on signs. "Text JOIN to …" at the register, on shelf tags or on the receipt, with the disclosures printed beside it: your store's name, that they'll get marketing texts, that joining isn't a condition of purchase, frequency, message and data rates, STOP and HELP.
Website sign-up. A form or pop-up with an unchecked consent box that names your store, says the customer agrees to receive marketing texts, gives the frequency, and says agreeing isn't a condition of purchase.
In-store sign-up. A tablet or written form at the counter with the same disclosures.

However they join, send a confirmation text right away that names your program, says how often you'll text, notes that message and data rates may apply, and explains STOP and HELP. Carriers expect it. Keep your own record of when and how each customer joined; Signilio doesn't keep that proof for you. See how to word SMS consent.

A customer's number from a past order or a loyalty sign-up for something else isn't consent to marketing texts. Ask them to join.

What to send, and how often

Promotions and launches to the whole list or a segment, scheduled for when customers shop.
Restocks and back-in-stock alerts to the people who asked about that item.
Event and store-hours updates, including holiday hours.
Replies. Customers answer promotions with questions about sizes, stock and pickup. A shared inbox lets the team answer them, which turns a promotion into a sale.

Text as often as you said you would at sign-up, and no more. Keep marketing texts between 8am and 9pm in the customer'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. Holiday season brings the most sends and the most complaints; see the holiday texting rules.

Picture messages and message length

A product photo sells, but a picture message costs more than a plain text: on Signilio, each one counts as 3 texts. An emoji can turn a one-segment text into two or three. Use the SMS cost calculator before you send, and see why emoji cost more.

10DLC registration for retail

Stores texting from local numbers register a brand (legal business name and EIN) and a marketing campaign with sample promotions and the exact way customers join. Since February 2025, US carriers block unregistered business traffic from local numbers. See 10DLC registration.

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

What retail texting costs

Signilio's plans run from $34.99 a month for 1,000 texts to $189.99 a month for 12,000 texts, with carrier fees included, replies free and every feature, from scheduled campaigns and segments to keyword replies, on every plan. See pricing.

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

Sample texts for retail

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.

Opt-in confirmation

[Your store]: you're in! Expect up to 4 texts a month with offers and new arrivals. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to opt out.

Promotion

[Your store]: 20% off all outerwear this weekend, in store and online with code WARM20. Shop: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out.

Back in stock

[Your store]: the [Item] you asked about is back in your size. Want us to hold one for pickup today? Reply YES. Reply STOP to opt out.

Holiday hours

[Your store]: we're open 8am to 10pm through Dec 23 and closed Dec 25. See you soon! Reply STOP to opt out.

Common questions

Do retail stores need 10DLC registration?: Yes, to text customers from ordinary local numbers. You register your store as a brand (legal business name and EIN) and a marketing campaign describing your messages and how customers join. Since February 2025, US carriers block unregistered business traffic from local numbers. Signilio registers your brand and campaign during onboarding.
How do I build an SMS list for my store?: Ask customers to join where they already are: a text-to-join keyword at checkout and on signs with the disclosures printed beside it, a website form with an unchecked consent box, or a sign-up at the counter. Send a confirmation text right away with your program name, how often you'll text, message and data rates, and STOP and HELP.
How often can a store send marketing texts?: There's no single federal limit, but text only as often as you told customers at sign-up, and keep 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. Sending more than you promised is the fastest way to raise opt-outs and complaints.
Do picture messages cost more than texts?: On Signilio, yes: each picture message counts as 3 texts toward the plan's allowance. Save photos for launches and products where the picture sells.
Can I text customers whose numbers I have from past orders?: Not for marketing, unless they agreed to marketing texts. A number given for an order or a receipt isn't consent to promotions. Invite them to join your text list instead.
What products can't be promoted by text on Signilio?: Cannabis and CBD, tobacco, firearms, adult content and alcohol where it's prohibited are not allowed on Signilio, regardless of consent or registration. The Acceptable Use Policy has the full list.