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What changes between adapting an existing theme and building your own, and what to check before choosing for your Shopify store.
Read articleSMS marketing in Shopify: setup, costs and limitations
SMS marketing in Shopify lets you send commercial messages to authorised recipients through a compatible tool. Before designing a campaign, check the country, sender, consent, cost and provider availability. Having a telephone number from an order does not make that customer a subscriber to SMS promotions.
SMS marketing in Shopify lets you send commercial messages to authorised recipients through a compatible tool. Before designing a campaign, check the country, sender, consent, cost and provider availability. Having a telephone number from an order does not make that customer a subscriber to SMS promotions.
There is an important current condition for Spain: Shopify states that marketing SMS to Spanish numbers has been paused since 15 September 2026, and Spain cannot be configured as a new recipient country for that service. Do not confuse this Shopify Messaging limitation with transactional notifications or the conditions of other apps.
Marketing SMS and transactional SMS are different
An order notification and a promotional offer serve different purposes. Review the journey, conditions and permissions for each. Do not turn an order confirmation into a campaign by adding a promotion without evaluating how it should be handled.
Shopify documents the countries and conditions for SMS notifications separately. If you need marketing campaigns in Spain, evaluate the current availability and specific configuration of an external solution rather than assuming every admin feature is enabled for your recipients.
Choose an app using verifiable criteria
Start with the destination countries, then compare the Shopify events you need. Klaviyo publishes a country availability matrix; other providers have their own rules. Features and sender types can vary by destination.
| Criterion | What to check |
|---|---|
| Countries and senders | Supported destination, registration and type of number or identifier. |
| Permissions | How authorisation for the channel is collected, retained and withdrawn. |
| Integration | Available events, customer identification and exclusion rules. |
| Cost | Destination rate, message segments, usage and possible subscription fees. |
| Support | Delivery logs, incidents and the sender review process. |
A contact database you can actually use
The AEPD explains the conditions for electronic commercial communications, including the limited exception for an existing contractual relationship. This should not be interpreted as permission to send any campaign to every telephone number in your store. The tool may impose additional requirements.
Design clear opt-in collection for the channel, retain its source and test unsubscribing. Email authorisation should not automatically become SMS authorisation. Before importing a list, review the origin, status and purpose of the data with the person responsible for privacy.
When SMS is worth using
The channel can be useful for a brief, relevant message that justifies interrupting the recipient. You do not need to move every newsletter to their phone. Repeating a campaign by email, SMS and WhatsApp can increase pressure without providing new information.
Start with a specific use case: requested availability information, a benefit for an authorised segment or a campaign with a real deadline. Do not invent scarcity. Also define who should not receive it, such as recent buyers if the promotion gives them no value.
Calculate the cost of the actual message
Do not budget using a generic price per SMS. Rates can depend on the country, provider and number of segments occupied by the text. Characters, length, links and formatting affect how the tool constructs the message.
Before scheduling, check the estimate for the final content and audience. Compare the total cost with the margin on the orders you expect to generate and the impact on unsubscribes. Revenue attributed by the platform is not automatically profit or incremental sales.
Set up a small first test
- Check the country, sender and enabled access.
- Select an authorised segment and a clear exclusion.
- Write a short message with one coherent action and destination.
- Verify business identification and the unsubscribe mechanism.
- Send an internal test and check its appearance and links.
- Schedule within the applicable conditions and hours.
- Review deliveries, clicks, unsubscribes and orders with documented attribution.
Automations without duplicate messages
If you activate a flow, check which event starts it, how long it waits and what stops it. A customer who has already purchased should not keep receiving a marketing reminder as though they have not. Also review its interaction with campaigns and other flows.
Do not promise results using universal open rates. Audience quality, message and frequency matter, and channel measurement has limitations. Evaluate the cost and behaviour of your segments rather than an advertising percentage without context.
If you need to organise acquisition, permissions and data before adding another channel, a Shopify store audit can identify the dependencies to resolve first.
Continue working on your store
- Shopify Email and Klaviyo: how to choose
- Email tools connected to Shopify
- An email marketing strategy for ecommerce
Sources and review
- Shopify Messaging: SMS requirements and countries
- Klaviyo: SMS countries and availability
- AEPD: unwanted advertising and electronic communications
- Shopify: transactional SMS notifications
Editorial review: the Migraciones.io team · 30 October 2026. Features, plans and availability are checked against the linked sources.