E-commerce

LoopMessage helps e-commerce businesses connect with customers through iMessage, SMS, RCS, and WhatsApp, making it easier to turn website visitors into leads, recover abandoned carts, promote special offers, and build long-term customer relationships.

Whether you run an online store, a subscription business, or a custom e-commerce platform, you can integrate LoopMessage into your existing website, backend, or CRM to automate customer communications.

The most important step is how you start conversations with your customers. Choosing the right opt-in method can significantly increase your messaging capacity, reduce delivery restrictions, and improve customer engagement.

1. Collecting leads and starting conversations

LoopMessage supports three main approaches to collecting leads and establishing conversations with potential customers.

Option 1: Use LoopMessage Sign-up Forms (Recommended)

The easiest way to collect leads is through our built-in Sign-up Forms.

You can embed a customizable form directly into your online store or share a link to it. Customers can provide information such as their name, email address, or other details you would like to collect. After completing the form, customers are invited to choose their preferred messaging channel, such as iMessage, SMS, or WhatsApp, depending on the available channels. They are then redirected to their messaging application with a pre-filled message containing a unique opt-in code. The customer simply sends this message to complete the process.

Once you receives the inbound message:

• The customer has initiated a conversation with your sender.
• The opt-in is matched with the submitted form information.
• Your backend or CRM can receive the contact details and form data through a webhook.
• You can immediately respond to the customer without the interval required to initiate a new conversation.

Why we recommend this method: Sign-up Forms establish a conversation initiated by the customer directly within the destination messaging platform. This is significantly more efficient than contacting new customers yourself through the Init Conversation feature.

You can learn more about configuring and embedding forms in our Sign-up Forms documentation.

Option 2: Use the Opt-in API with your own forms (Recommended)

If your online store already has custom sign-up forms, landing pages, or a registration flow, you do not need to replace them. Instead, you can integrate the Opt-in API. This method allows you to generate unique opt-in links and redirect customers to their preferred messaging application. For example, you can add a button to your existing website:

Subscribe via iMessage and get 10% off your first order

When the customer clicks the button, your application can redirect them to the messaging app with a pre-filled opt-in message. The customer sends the message to your sender, establishing the conversation.

The Opt-in API also allows you to:

• Generate unique opt-in URLs for individual customers.
• Attach custom metadata, such as customer IDs, campaign IDs, or tracking parameters.
• Customize the pre-filled opt-in message.
• Match incoming opt-ins with existing records in your store or CRM.
• Track completed opt-ins through webhooks.

The main advantage: You maintain full control over your website design and customer experience while benefiting from the same customer-initiated conversation model as LoopMessage Sign-up Forms.

Learn more in the Opt-in API documentation.

Option 3: Collect leads using your existing forms and initiate conversations yourself

You can also collect customer information through your existing website forms without redirecting visitors to a messaging application. For example, customers might provide their phone numbers during checkout, account registration, or a newsletter subscription. However, **collecting a phone number or consent through a regular website form does not establish a conversation within iMessage, WhatsApp, or another destination messenger. **From the messaging platform’s perspective, your first outbound message is still a new conversation. To contact these customers, you must use the Init Conversation feature, which is available for eligible sender names and subject to additional requirements. These include:

• An interval of approximately ~15 minutes between initiating new conversations, unless individually adjusted.
• Sender warm-up restrictions and applicable daily limits.
• Maintaining an adequate customer reply rate, generally above approximately 30%.
• Restrictions on the content of the initial message.

Important: The initial message sent using Init Conversation must not contain promotional content, links, prices, attachments, or other prohibited content. It should establish a legitimate conversation and invite the customer to respond or decline further communication.

This approach may be useful when you already have customer contact information and appropriate consent, but it offers significantly less flexibility and lower initial outreach capacity than customer-initiated conversations. Learn more about the requirements in Is it possible to send an outbound text first?.

2. Encourage customers to subscribe with incentives

One effective way to grow your messaging audience is to offer something valuable in exchange for subscribing.

For example:

• A discount on the first order.
• An exclusive coupon code.
• Early access to new collections.
• Special subscriber-only deals.
• Free shipping on the next purchase.

You can place these offers on your homepage, product pages, checkout page, or other locations throughout your store.

For example, your sign-up form might display:

Get 10% off your first order! Subscribe to our messaging updates and receive your exclusive discount code.

Once the customer completes the opt-in process by sending a message to your sender, you can automatically respond with a welcome message and the discount code.

This creates a simple customer acquisition flow:

Visitor → Sign-up → Customer-initiated message → Welcome offer → Purchase

Make sure customers clearly understand what they are subscribing to, especially when you intend to send promotional messages.

3. E-commerce messaging use cases

After establishing conversations and obtaining the appropriate permissions, you can use LoopMessage for a variety of customer engagement and sales workflows.

The following examples assume that the recipient has an established conversation and that the intended message is permitted by the customer’s consent and applicable messaging policies.

Abandoned Cart Recovery

A customer adds products to their shopping cart but leaves your store without completing the purchase. Instead of losing that potential sale, your e-commerce backend or CRM can trigger a follow-up message through LoopMessage.

Example message:

Hi Alex! Looks like you left something in your cart. Need any help completing your order? You can pick up where you left off here: [cart link]

You can also personalize the message with the customer’s name, cart details, or a discount when appropriate. Abandoned cart messaging is especially useful for answering last-minute questions about shipping, sizing, product availability, or payment options.

Promotions and Special Offers

Keep subscribed customers informed about relevant promotions, special offers, and personalized discounts.

For example, you can send:

• Welcome discounts for new subscribers.
• Personalized coupon codes.
• Loyalty rewards.
• Exclusive offers for returning customers.
• Special discounts based on shopping interests.

Example message:

Hey Alex! We’ve got a special offer for our subscribers this week. Want to see the details?

Unlike traditional one-way promotional channels, messaging allows customers to reply, ask questions, and continue the conversation.

Sales and Product Launches

Notify interested customers about upcoming sales, new arrivals, and limited-time opportunities.

Examples include seasonal sales, Black Friday campaigns, new collection launches, flash sales, and exclusive early-access events.

Example message:

Hi Alex! Our new collection just arrived, and subscribers get early access. Want a preview?

You can use customer preferences or segmentation data from your CRM to make these messages more relevant.

Reminders and Follow-ups

LoopMessage can also support automated reminders and customer follow-ups.

Depending on your business, these may include:

• Payment reminders.
• Order-related notifications.
• Back-in-stock alerts.
• Subscription renewal reminders.
• Product reservation reminders.
• Follow-ups on customer inquiries.

Example message:

Hi Alex! Good news — the item you were waiting for is back in stock. Would you like us to send you the link?

These workflows can be triggered by events in your e-commerce application or CRM.

4. Why customer-initiated conversations significantly increase messaging capacity

One of the biggest advantages of LoopMessage Sign-up Forms and the Opt-in API is that customers initiate conversations with your sender instead of your business initiating conversations with them. This distinction has a significant impact on messaging intervals and operational capacity.

Comparing sending methods

Scenario	Typical sending interval
Replying to a customer’s recent inbound message	No additional interval required
Sending follow-up messages to existing contacts without recent inbound activity	Minimum 2 minutes between applicable sendings
Initiating conversations with new contacts	Approximately 15 minutes between new conversations

These intervals are based on the current LoopMessage sending rules and may vary according to sender configuration, sending behavior, and approved adjustments. Additionally, you may use the Deferred Messages feature, which will help you queue your messages, and we’ll automatically manage all intervals for you.

What does this mean for your store?

Imagine your online store collects hundreds of new leads every day.

Scenario A: Your business initiates conversations

If you collect phone numbers through ordinary website forms and contact those customers yourself, each first outbound message is subject to Init Conversation requirements. With a typical interval of ~15 minutes between new conversations, reaching many new customers through a single sender can take considerable time. You must also account for warm-up restrictions, reply-rate requirements, and recommended daily initiation limits.

Scenario B: Customers initiate conversations through Sign-up Forms or the Opt-in API

Now imagine those same customers subscribe through LoopMessage Sign-up Forms or your custom Opt-in API integration.

They send the first message themselves. You can respond to their inbound messages immediately, without waiting 15 minutes between new conversations.

Later, if you send follow-up messages to established contacts who have not recently messaged you, the general minimum interval is 2 minutes between applicable outbound sendings, rather than the approximately 15-minute interval for initiating new conversations.

This can make a substantial difference for stores managing large audiences.

Additional benefits

Higher effective messaging capacity

You can establish conversations with more customers without relying entirely on the restrictive new-conversation initiation process.

Faster customer engagement

Customers who contact your store can receive immediate replies, making it easier to deliver welcome offers and answer product questions.

Better sender reputation

Customer-initiated conversations are more natural for two-way messaging services and reduce the risks associated with unsolicited first-contact messages.

Easier automation

Your backend or CRM can handle opt-in events, customer replies, and later follow-ups without maintaining a separate workflow for initiating every new conversation.

Important: Customer-initiated conversations do not eliminate all platform restrictions or LoopMessage plan limits. Daily and monthly limits on unique contacts, applicable follow-up intervals, content restrictions, and messaging policies still apply.

For additional information, see Sending Messages - Limits and How the pricing plan limits work.

5. Automating your e-commerce messaging workflows

LoopMessage can be integrated with your e-commerce backend, CRM, or automation platform through its API and webhooks.

A typical automated workflow might look like this:

1. A customer visits your online store and sees an offer to subscribe for a discount.
2. They complete your Sign-up Form or use an Opt-in API link.
3. The customer sends the pre-filled message from their messaging app.
4. LoopMessage receives the inbound message and sends an opt-in webhook to your backend.
5. Your backend associates the contact with the appropriate customer record.
6. You send a welcome message with the promised coupon code.
7. Later, your store can trigger an abandoned cart reminder, special offer, or other relevant follow-up according to the customer’s consent and applicable sending limits.

You can build these workflows using your own backend or integrate LoopMessage into your existing CRM and automation infrastructure.

Sender Pools for larger audiences

If your store needs to manage a larger volume of customer conversations, consider using Sender Pools.

Sender Pools allow you to group multiple sender names and distribute new customers across them.

LoopMessage can also identify the sender that already has an active conversation with a particular customer, helping you preserve conversation continuity.

This can be particularly useful for stores with large subscriber bases or multiple campaigns.

Deferred Messages for automated scheduling

You can also enable Deferred Messages.

When a message cannot be sent immediately because of an applicable sending interval, LoopMessage can automatically defer it until the next permitted sending time.

You can also configure allowed sending days, hours, and timezones.

For example, you might allow promotional follow-ups only from 10 AM to 8 PM, Monday through Friday.

Deferred Messages do not bypass sending limits, but they help you comply with them automatically without building a separate scheduling system.

6. Best practices for e-commerce messaging

Prefer customer-initiated conversations. Use Sign-up Forms or the Opt-in API whenever possible. This provides a more scalable foundation for two-way customer engagement.

Offer clear value. Welcome discounts, exclusive deals, and early access can encourage shoppers to subscribe voluntarily.

Make consent transparent. Explain what kinds of messages customers will receive. A customer requesting order assistance has not necessarily agreed to unrelated promotional campaigns.

Keep messages relevant. Use available customer preferences and shopping activity to avoid unnecessary or repetitive outreach.

Encourage real conversations. LoopMessage is designed for two-way communication, not unsolicited, outbound-only bulk messaging.

Respect opt-outs. Give customers a clear way to stop receiving messages and honor unsubscribe requests.

Follow applicable rules. Ensure your campaigns comply with destination messaging platform requirements and applicable privacy and marketing regulations.

Getting started

For most e-commerce businesses, we recommend beginning with Sign-up Forms or the Opt-in API.

Both approaches make it easier for customers to initiate conversations, allow your store to respond immediately, and provide a more flexible foundation for abandoned cart recovery, promotional campaigns, sales, and automated reminders.

If you already collect leads through traditional forms, the Init Conversation feature may provide an alternative, subject to its additional requirements.