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Vape Superstore is a UK-based vaping supplier whose main goal is to “help create a healthier smoke free future for the UK.”’
Dan Judd, Head of Digital at Vape Superstore, explains how Vape Superstore’s lofty goals depend on getting accurate data about their customers, and using great tools to reach those customers at the right time with the right recommendation.
“The aim wasn’t just to be just another vape shop. We know that every customer that shops with us is at a different stage of their journey,” Dan tells Omnisend. “Whether someone’s just quit smoking or they’ve been vaping for years, we’re here to guide and support them through that journey.”
Dan Judd, Head of Digital at Vape Superstore
For them, it’s therefore very important to understand their customers’ individual habits and tailor those recommendations accordingly.
Vape Superstore was looking for a strong SMS solution to help them implement their SMS marketing strategy along with their existing email strategy.
Unbeatable pricing and 24/7 support
Before coming to Omnisend, they were using Klaviyo’s email and SMS software, but found that the pricing was far too high for the type of results they were getting.
After the two week warmup period, they fully switched over on July 1 this year. “The original plan was just to use the SMS solution,” Dan says, “but once we got under the hood of Omnisend, we saw that ‘Hey, there’s a lot of good features here.’”
The original plan was just to use the SMS solution. But once we got under the hood of Omnisend, we saw that ‘Hey, there’s a lot of good features here.'
Besides the collection of features, the pricing was a huge pull for Vape Superstore.
“On top of that, the money was spot on,” Dan continues. “What we were paying just for the email solution over at Klaviyo is nearly the same as what we’re paying for Omnisend with SMS.”
This is true for many brands, who discover that Omnisend’s Pro plan gives them free SMS equal to the price of their plan. So if they’re paying $500/month for unlimited emails on the Pro plan, they’re also getting $500 each month in free international SMS.
For Dan and Vape Superstore, that was a huge advantage.
“Very good value indeed.”
The other big draw that Dan & Vape Superstore discovered was Omnisend’s 24/7 support and Customer Success Managers.
“The support we’re receiving [in the past few months] far outweighed what we’d received from Klaviyo in the three years we’d been using them,” he explains. Because of the features, stellar pricing and amazing support, they switched to Omnisend and, in Dan’s words, “never looked back.”
Omnisend’s support has proven to Dan & Vape Superstore what other customers have seen: 24/7/365 support that’s won two Stevie customer support awards, back-to-back, with an average response time of under 5 minutes.
Reaching more with email & SMS
Vape Superstore sees SMS as a way to reach their consumers, and by combining SMS with email, they’re able to go further than they would with email alone. For Dan, it was a no-brainer since a majority of their shoppers are mobile users:
“80% of our online visitors are on a mobile device, so to be able to target those with the instant messaging was a great option,” Dan explains. “Combined with email, it was a powerful combination.”
One of the ways for Vape Superstore to collect their shoppers’ email addresses and phone numbers was Omnisend’s multi-step forms.
“We got a lot of advice from you guys on best practices.” Vape Superstore implemented those best practices and have seen some amazing results:
“Our mobile form was hovering at about the 18% signup rate in Klaviyo. We’re now up to about 32% at Omnisend. That’s definitely a significant jump,” Dan says.
Not only was it effective, but at Omnisend Dan found it exceptionally easy.
“It was also very easy to set up. The step-by-step instructions, the support given by Omnisend. What are you waiting for?”
When it comes to fears of sending SMS in general, where some ecommerce store owners worry that their customers may view SMS marketing as spam, Dan says:
“Our customers have received the SMS really well. They appreciate the directness and the immediacy of SMS. Anyone who’s got concerns with SMS, at least try it out,” he recommends. “I think you’ll be surprised by the results.”
Vape Superstore uses SMS marketing campaigns for their clearance sales, product recommendations, product launches, and their rewards program. “All of those work tremendously well,” Dan says.
Even better, SMS campaigns are pretty easy to set up at Omnisend:
“It’s just as simple as writing a text message on your phone.”
All in all, besides setting up the targeting and everything else around the campaign, Dan says that it takes less than five minutes to actually create the SMS campaign.
“Omnisend’s extremely straightforward. It’s already sort of populated the unsubscribe links, shortens the links for you. Very straightforward indeed.”
Big plans ahead
Beyond all the success they’ve seen with email & SMS at Omnisend, Vape Superstore has some big plans for the future.
“We plan on deepening our engagement, and creating more touchpoints for our customers,” he says. “Email has always been the cornerstone of our communication strategy. It offers more depth and platform for the more detailed content.”
“But now we’ve added SMS into the mix. There’s a world of potential to connect instantly with those customers, and more directly. We’ll be looking to integrate SMS into our automation workflows, ensuring that the customers receive those timely updates and reminders.”
