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Shopify merchants smashed records with $5 billion in Black Friday sales, peaking at $4.6 million per minute. If Shopify had a banner season, you can bet every text-messaging platform powering Black Friday / Cyber Monday (BFCM) campaigns did too. The reason is simple: In a time crunch, nothing moves merchandise like a promotion, and a text message is still the fastest and cheapest way to broadcast an attention-grabbing promotion.
By the time you’re reading this on Monday morning, you’re likely feeling exhausted, excited, relieved, nervous, pensive—or all of the above. These peak days don’t just test every hop of the network for delivery; they push the limits of timeliness and the network’s ability to quickly resolve issues.
If you’re exhausted, you’re probably part of the ops or network team that made it all happen without letting them see you sweat. On the other hand, if you’re excited and relieved, it’s because not only did all the traffic you expected materialize, but you also delivered all of it. In an industry where usage-based pricing still dominates, delivery translates directly into recognized revenue. And if you’re nervous or pensive, there could be many reasons for it—but chances are, you’re not alone.
The Bedrock SMB
While the enterprise has been soft for a while, the SMBs have been propping up the US economy and we don’t know how long that will last. Klaviyo has declined to give any guidance for 2025, citing unpredictability in the SMB market, even though Jen Kessler noted that this holiday season will be both the most expensive and highest grossing on record. Layer that with Target’s tepid Q3 sales and its observation that customers remain cautious and focused on deals. However, while Shopify may not be the bellwether for the broader economy, these numbers suggest that the small business continues to be resilient.
Shoe Sales and Founder Mode
I’m reminded of a small shoe store that sold only women’s shoes—run by a founder who truly epitomized “founder mode.” He knew his product and his customers better than anyone else. Using text messaging, he sent his mostly female clientele specials and coupons during major sporting events. While their partners were busy watching the game, his customers were browsing his website for the best deals on the latest trends. For him, the ROI on text messaging was immediate; sales spiked within minutes of sending a text.
This kind of success isn’t uncommon for small-business entrepreneurs who embrace text messaging. There’s no A/B testing of campaigns, scoping of funnels, or translating leads into Marketing Qualified Leads and Sales Qualified Leads. Just an entrepreneur with intuitive situational awareness of his business and what it takes to stay viable. Stories like his underscore why text messaging remains a critical tool for SMBs during high-stakes seasons like BFCM.
Finally
When it comes to macro economics, text messaging is like financial payments. The volume of text messages, like the volume of payments, show which way the economy is going. We’ll know for sure how good this BFCM went by next February/March, when the public players announce their results. Until then, good news like Shopify’s performance gives us hope that we’ll emerge from 2024 a stronger and more resilient marketplace.