Our co-founders, Melissa Bridgeford, founder of Stylust, and Marc Lore, founder of Jet.com and former CEO of Walmart eCommerce US, had the pleasure of participating in Adweek’s The New Consumer to discuss how companies must rethink everything from product development to customer experience to meet the ever-evolving needs of the modern consumer. If you missed their insightful take on creating convenience through technology, we’ve got you covered.

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An appetite for convenience

Just as consumers began to crave more convenient ways to shop, the pandemic forced brick-and-mortars to shutter, and online shopping became a way of life. But perhaps the biggest change we’ve seen in consumer behavior is the migration from desktop to mobile. 

There’s no doubt about it—we’re all addicted to our phones. And more specifically, our text messages. In fact, adults under the age of 45 send and receive more than 85 texts a day, and approximately 90% of all texts are opened within three minutes of delivery. The quickest, most effective way to communicate, it didn’t take long for brands to learn the value of meeting customers where they already spend their time.

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Frictionless shopping

SMS gives brands and retailers an immediate way to reach their on-the-go consumers. But they’re still scrambling for ways to get consumers to not only browse on mobile, but transact, too. Even though a majority of a brand’s website traffic now comes from mobile, it converts at only half the rate of desktop. Because, frankly, the mobile shopping experience is inherently bad—with the desktop experience squished onto a much smaller screen, it forces users to scroll endlessly.

In the same way Marc Lore is addressing convenience through food delivery with Wonder, Wizard is transforming mobile commerce with a frictionless shopping experience via text. Conversational commerce is a powerful solution that provides a better consumer experience over SMS. It lets them skip the web entirely and complete purchases without leaving their text messages. No more links back to your website, or tedious checkouts and lost passwords. It eliminates the additional clicks that make consumers abandon the purchase process.

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How do you get people to not only browse on mobile, but convert? We see conversational commerce as one of the most powerful solutions by providing a frictionless consumer experience over text.
_{- Melissa Bridgeford, Wizard co-founder and CEO}

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SMS 2.0

The SMS 1.0 experience has fallen short of demonstrating the value of text for consumers so far. Text messages that lack personalization and value have created a negative perception around SMS. And merchants are tired of spamming their customers with one-way outbounds and mass texts. They’re hungry for a better customer experience that allows them to convert on mobile. 

At Wizard, we’re redefining mobile commerce through cutting-edge technology and a deep understanding of consumer behavior. We’re transforming the way people shop with an SMS 2.0 experience that not only meets consumer expectations, but anticipates and exceeds them. Our SMS 2.0 experience combines the energy and authentic hospitality of in-store shopping with the convenience and utility of technology. It lets consumers shop and make purchases from wherever they are with two-way, real-time conversations that deliver assistance at every point in the journey.

It gives consumers a personal shopper in their pocket, and brands a way to drive customer LTV and sales. And it allows brands to engage and get to know their customers in a way only 1:1 conversation can.

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