T-Mobile’s New SMS Notification Policies for eCommerce

At Sonar, we are constantly monitoring the changing business SMS landscape to ensure all our partners are effectively using our platform while adhering to industry guidelines and policies.

New Policy

Effective May 1, 2020, T-Mobile has made significant policy updates for SMS cart abandonment notifications. All eCommerce businesses should note these changes are likely to be broadened and adopted by all major carriers. Most eCommerce shops and merchants use SMS cart abandonment to drive additional revenue. The new changes impact SMS marketing campaigns for abandoned carts and reminder notifications when items are in your cart. 

This new policy is in response to some businesses sending too many text messages to customers shopping. This aggressive text marketing has grown to be a big enough problem, the mobile carriers are swiftly reacting to protect their customers. And, rightfully so.

The good news is, SMS cart abandonment marketing is not being disallowed altogether. Below are the details of the new policy changes set forth by T-Mobile.

Requirements

• The eCommerce website call-to-action (CTA) must mention the message program includes shopping cart reminders (within the opt-in terms and conditions) 
• The shopping cart message program must incorporate double opt-in via text
• Double opt-in content must inform the user the message program includes shopping cart reminders
• Campaigns must be filed as an “Account Information” campaign, with a detailed description highlighting the message program will include shopping cart notifications

Privacy Policy Disclosures

• Privacy policies must explicitly state how information is captured by the eCommerce site to determine when a customer cart has been abandoned (e.g. website cookies, plugins, etc)
• Terms and conditions on the eCommerce website must reflect the new policy

Delivery and Content Restrictions

• Text reminders must be sent within a 48-hour period and limited to one alert per unique abandoned cart
• The abandoned cart notification must not result in the eCommerce site completing the transaction on behalf of the consumer
• Abandoned cart notification must not collect payment information or accept approval for purchase via a keyword confirmation from the consumer
• The consumer must complete the transaction by processing payment themselves via a direct URL link to the eCommerce website

If you are a Sonar eCommerce partner and want more information, please contact us at contact@sendsonar.com. If you want to become a Sonar partner, check us out on our website!