Consider the math: a Shopify store with $80K/mo in revenue and a 70% cart abandonment rate is losing $186K in potential monthly sales. Email recovery recaptures maybe $9K of that (5% recovery rate × 20% email open rate). SMS recovery, with its 98% open rate and 19% average conversion rate for abandoned cart messages, could recapture $35K+ — nearly 4x email. For a store paying $29/mo for an SMS recovery tool, that's a 1,200x ROI.
The SMS marketing market hit $12.6B in 2023 and is projected to reach $24.6B by 2028. Attentive, the SMS leader for e-commerce, raised $470M and is valued at $1.7B. Postscript, the Shopify-focused SMS platform, raised $65M. But both charge $100-300+/mo minimums with per-message fees on top — designed for brands spending $50K+/mo on marketing.
A $29-79/mo tool focused ONLY on cart recovery SMS (not campaigns, not flows, not popups — just abandoned cart texts) would be dramatically simpler to build and easier to sell. The ROI story practically sells itself: 'You lost $12,000 in abandoned carts last month. This tool recovers 15-20% of that for $29/mo.' Recart, a bootstrapped Shopify SMS app, reportedly hit $50K+ MRR by focusing on Messenger + SMS recovery. A pure SMS play at a lower price point is wide open.
💰 Revenue Blueprint
Three-tier value ladder to monetize from day one
Free tool that connects to your Shopify and calculates your monthly abandoned cart losses + estimated SMS recovery
Up to 500 SMS/month, automated cart recovery sequence, smart timing, compliance management
Up to 5,000 SMS/month, A/B testing, custom recovery flows, discount code integration, analytics dashboard, priority support
Why Now?
SMS commerce is exploding — projected to grow from $12.6B to $24.6B by 2028. Email open rates keep declining. Apple's iOS updates continue to impact email tracking. Shoppers are increasingly mobile-first, making SMS the natural recovery channel.
📊 Market Evidence
The Market Gap
Attentive ($300+/mo) and Postscript ($100+/mo) are full SMS marketing platforms. Recart ($65+/mo) bundles Messenger + SMS. No focused, affordable 'just cart recovery SMS' tool exists at $29-79/mo.
Revenue Examples
Estimated from Shopify App Store reviews (1,000+) and pricing tiers
Raised $65M, 18,000+ brands. Revenue estimated from headcount.
🏆 Competitor Landscape
How existing players stack up in this market
| Competitor | Pricing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Attentive | $300+/mo | Market leader in SMS commerce, raised $470M. Way too expensive for small stores. |
| Postscript | $100+/mo | Shopify-focused SMS platform, raised $65M. Still enterprise-priced. |
| Recart | $65/mo | Messenger + SMS recovery for Shopify. Closest competitor but bundles too much. |
| SMSBump (Yotpo) | $19/mo+ | Now part of Yotpo ecosystem. SMS campaigns, not focused on cart recovery. |
Market leader in SMS commerce, raised $470M. Way too expensive for small stores.
Shopify-focused SMS platform, raised $65M. Still enterprise-priced.
Messenger + SMS recovery for Shopify. Closest competitor but bundles too much.
Now part of Yotpo ecosystem. SMS campaigns, not focused on cart recovery.
Launch Strategy
1) Build abandoned cart calculator as a free lead magnet (viral potential: 'find out how much you're losing'). 2) Shopify App Store listing. 3) Content: 'Email vs SMS for cart recovery: the data.' 4) Partner with Shopify agencies and developers. 5) Cold outreach to stores with visible high traffic but no SMS (can be detected).
🛠️ Recommended Tech Stack
Suggested tools and technologies to build this idea
Why this stack: Shopify webhooks trigger cart abandonment events. Twilio sends SMS with recovery links. Supabase stores cart data and tracks conversions.
Strengths
- ✓Direct, measurable ROI — 'this tool recovered $X in sales this month' is visible in the dashboard
- ✓SMS is still under-adopted by small merchants — massive greenfield opportunity
- ✓Per-SMS pricing means revenue grows naturally as merchants scale
Risks
- ⚠TCPA and GDPR compliance is complex — SMS requires explicit opt-in and can incur penalties
- ⚠Per-message costs (Twilio: $0.0079/SMS) eat into margins at lower price tiers
Score Breakdown
High demand, proven revenue, low competition — a strong opportunity
Market (20%) + Revenue (20%) + Trend (15%) + Competition (15%) + Build (15%) + Pricing (15%)
8 — Attentive's $1.7B valuation and Postscript's $65M raise prove massive demand.
8 — Recart does $50K+ MRR bootstrapped. SMS recovery has proven revenue potential.
8 — SMS commerce growing at 15%+ annually. Email declining. Mobile-first shopping increasing.
6 — Enterprise players are strong but priced out of SMB market. Several mid-tier competitors exist.
7 — Core messaging is simple but TCPA compliance and carrier requirements add complexity.
8 — $29-79/mo with clear ROI. Per-SMS model enables expansion revenue.
🚀 Start Building
Copy a prompt into your favorite AI coding tool and start building this idea right now.
Build a SaaS product called "Abandoned Cart SMS Recovery". ## Product Overview Recover abandoned carts via SMS — 3x higher open rates than email ## Problem 70% of e-commerce carts are abandoned — that's $4.6 trillion in lost revenue annually. Email-based recovery captures maybe 5-10% of that because 80% of cart abandonment emails go unopened (spam filters, inbox overload, email fatigue). Meanwhile, SMS has a 98% open rate and 45% click-through rate, but most Shopify stores aren't using it because SMS tools like Attentive ($300+/mo) and Postscript ($100+/mo) are built for enterprise. ## Solution A plug-and-play Shopify/WooCommerce integration that automatically sends an SMS 30 minutes after cart abandonment with a personalized message including the customer's name, cart items, and a one-click recovery link. Includes smart timing, A/B testing, and compliance management (TCPA/GDPR). ## Target Audience Shopify and WooCommerce store owners with $10K-500K/mo in revenue who want to recover abandoned carts beyond email ## Tech Stack - Next.js 15 (App Router) with TypeScript - Tailwind CSS v4 for styling - Supabase for auth, database, and storage - Vercel for deployment - shadcn/ui for UI components - Framer Motion for animations ## MVP Features to Build 1. Landing page with clear value proposition 2. User authentication (sign up, sign in, forgot password) 3. Core product functionality based on the solution above 4. Dashboard for users to manage their data 5. Pricing page with at least 2 tiers (free + paid) 6. Basic settings/profile page ## Known Competitors Attentive, Postscript, Recart, SMSBump (Yotpo) ## Key Risks to Address TCPA and GDPR compliance is complex — SMS requires explicit opt-in and can incur penalties Per-message costs (Twilio: $0.0079/SMS) eat into margins at lower price tiers ## Deployment 1. Set up Supabase project and configure environment variables 2. Deploy to Vercel with `npx vercel --prod` 3. Set up custom domain 4. Configure Supabase RLS policies for security ## Instructions Start by creating the project structure, then build the landing page first. Use server components where possible. Make it mobile-responsive from the start. Focus on getting the core value loop working before adding polish.