NYC based eCommerce marketing platform Yotpo acquires SaaS startup SMSBump

Mobile commerce has seen explosive growth in recent years. Thanks to smart devices that are making it easier for people to shop, the mobile commerce is now driving the majority of consumer traffic (81% h/t Shopify) and forecasted to draw more than half of online shopping by next year (53.9% h/t Statista).

It’s been a busy news week for SMS marketing for eCommerce — among them is Yotpo‘s acquisition of SMSBump, which adds SMS marketing to an eCommerce marketing platform that unlocks unique synergies between SMS marketing and Yotpo’s other products: user-generated content (reviews, visuals), loyalty programs, and referrals. The terms of deal were not disclosed.

With this acquisition, Yotpo is the only eCommerce marketing platform to provide integrated solutions for reviews, visual UGC, loyalty, referrals, and SMS in one place, giving brands the unique ability to engage customers with smarter, cohesive, and higher-converting experiences across channels. The single-platform approach meets brands’ growing desire to manage their direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketing activities more efficiently and effectively.

For those of you who are not familiar with the New York City-based startup, Yotpo is an eCommerce marketing platform powerhouse, helping thousands of forward-thinking brands like Rebecca Minkoff, MVMT, Bob’s Discount Furniture, and Steve Madden accelerate direct-to-consumer growth. Yotpo’s single-platform approach integrates data-driven solutions for reviews, loyalty, SMS marketing, and more.

“It’s a major win for Direct to Consumer brands. We’re combining SMS marketing with its tremendous ROI (up to 25x) with our best-in-class integrated solutions to enable brands to create connected, smarter, and higher-converting experiences. SMS is also such a core part of customer communication as consumers shift to mobile,” Yotpo told us in an email.

Founded in 2011 by Omri Cohen and Tomer Tagrin, Yotpo provides brands with everything they need to win in a customer-centric world. Yotpo’s suite of integrated solutions for user-generated content marketing, loyalty, and referrals helps commerce companies accelerate growth by enabling advocacy and maximizing customer lifetime value.

Reid Sheldon, Head of Global Digital Marketing, Volcom, said, “This multi-product, single-platform approach to eCommerce marketing is exactly why Yotpo is the ideal partner for Volcom. We need to meet consumers where they are, and at every touchpoint engage and inspire. Yotpo is developing the scalable infrastructure that will help us improve and accelerate our ability to tackle these challenges and drive higher ROI across efforts.”

“This is a huge win for brands looking for ways to create truly exceptional commerce experiences for their customers, and further solidifies Yotpo as a must-have technology platform for eCommerce after the Shopifys of the world,” said Cohen. “We deeply respect SMSBump, whose team shares the same DNA for speed and innovation as Yotpo, and a disruptive vision that propelled their SMS marketing solution to the top of their category.”

Trusted by 28000+ eCommerce businesses, SMSBump is a complete SMS marketing solution allowing brands to drive engagement, improve retention, and increase lifetime value. Built to ensure maximum privacy law compliance, the solution enables brands to grow their list of opt-in followers and deploy personalized marketing messages either via advanced flow builder or existing campaigns for welcome, cart abandonment, winback, and more. The company was established in 2017 by cofounders Mihail Stoychev and Georgi Petrov. The team will remain at SMSBump’s headquarters in Sofia, Bulgaria, now a Yotpo location.

“We are proud to join Yotpo in our shared commitment to give brands the best technology to elevate and advance customer experiences,” said Stoychev. “The acquisition gives us the ability to accelerate product innovation and surface the unique synergies we can only achieve through Yotpo’s eCommerce marketing platform.”

Yotpo is also launching a complete integration between SMSBump and Yotpo’s Reviews & Ratings, Visual UGC, and Loyalty & Referrals to trigger more automated workflows and segmentation capabilities.

Yotpo’s second acquisition, following their first of loyalty and referrals provider Swell Rewards in 2018, is another step towards the company’s mission to give brands the most powerful eCommerce marketing platform to spark and sustain customer relationships. Adding SMS marketing to Yotpo’s suite of capabilities enables brands to tap into a highly effective communication channel that can drive up to 25x ROI.