Insights from Listrak’s Cross-Channel Email and SMS Benchmark Report
Every good marketing team asks the same question: “Are our results good?” Metrics like clickthrough rates, conversion rates, and revenue per send help answer that question. They also provide evidence of broader industry trends and actionable insights marketers can use to refine their strategies and improve results.
Listrak, a retail-focused marketing automation platform, publishes annual benchmark reports that turn performance data into insight. For the 2026 Cross-Channel Benchmark Report, Listrak analyzed more than 130 billion email and SMS/MMS messages sent by over 1,000 ecommerce retailers in 2025, identifying the trends shaping customer engagement across channels. The data highlights four key shifts in how retailers are engaging customers, and where the greatest opportunities for growth lie.
1. Email Anchors Engagement as SMS Adoption Accelerates
After last year’s significant +43% growth in email sends, 2025 email volume remained flat YOY. This reflects increased inbox competition, evolving ISP requirements, and stricter relevance filtering. At the same time, SMS sends grew 19% year over year, as brands continued investing in mobile as a high-intent engagement channel.
2. Transactional Messages Deliver Unmatched Revenue Impact
While transactional email sends increased just 5% YOY, revenue growth significantly outpaced send volume. This highlights the strength of these high-intent touchpoints. As inbox providers further separate promotional and transactional traffic, these messages benefit from greater visibility and inherent relevance.
3. SMS Triggered Campaigns Became a Core Growth Lever
Triggered campaigns (including browse abandonment and post-purchase messages) saw substantial increases in send volume. These lifecycle touchpoints demonstrate SMS’s growing role in capturing high-intent demand and reinforcing engagement at key moments in the customer journey.
4. Personalized Post-Purchase Journeys Are the Next Frontier
Brands are increasingly layering product recommendations, cross-category offers, and targeted win-back strategies into post-purchase messaging. This shift turns a traditionally transactional moment into an opportunity to drive repeat engagement and long-term customer value.
Remember the Power of Coordinated Channels
While each of these trends highlights a specific shift in retail messaging, one broader pattern continues to emerge. Today’s customers move fluidly across channels: discovering products in email, receiving reminders via SMS, and ultimately completing purchases on mobile.
Across Listrak’s benchmarks over the past several years, retailers that coordinate messaging across channels consistently see stronger results. When email and SMS strategies reinforce each other, brands create a more cohesive customer experience across touchpoints – driving stronger engagement, loyalty, and long-term customer value.
Download the Full Benchmark Insights
To dive deeper into the data behind these trends and understand how your clickthrough rates, conversion rates, and revenue per send compares across your retail vertical, explore Listrak’s latest benchmark reports:
- 2026 Cross-Channel Benchmark Report, email and SMS performance data across 15 campaign types and 12 retail verticals
- Beauty & Fashion Benchmark Report, a deep dive into performance data and trends shaping two of retail’s most competitive industries
About Listrak
Listrak is the person-first marketing automation platform that unifies data, identity, and cross-channel messaging to deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences. Designed for leading retailers and brands, Listrak’s email, mobile, push, and web solutions help marketers drive growth, increase efficiency, and maximize revenue. Learn more at www.listrak.com
