AB Commerce: How to Collect Emails & SMS Mobile Numbers

It's important to be constantly building up your email and SMS database with new subscribers who opt-in to receive communications from you.  Most will give you their email address and some will also give you their sms mobile number.

The ultimate effect of this is building up Loyalty and Increasing Revenue through Returning Customers which is where most successful online websites generate their large revenues from.

Already Available Collection Points

The following are already set up by default - note that the most common place for collecting emails is during the checkout when the customer is making their order.

• Opt-in at start of checkout - When a customer is entering their email address at the start of the checkout, they will be able to op-tin their email address.
• Opt-in/Create Account at end of checkout - After a customer has made an order, they will have the option to create an account and opt-in to receive email and/or sms communications.
• Join Page in header Sitewide - On every page, there is a link to Join where they can create an account and opt-in for email and/or sms communications.
• Subscribe link in footer on every page - On every page, at the top of the footer, there is a link to Subscribe where they can subscribe their email and/or sms
  • Note that for older websites, you need to contact the Help Desk to turn this on
  • Note that you have the option to move this to the bottom of the footer section (just contact the Help Desk to get this changed)
• Opt-in for any contact form -Every contact form on your website that you create using the Contact Form Widget will allow the customer to opt-in for email and/or sms. 

Additional Optional Collection Points 

The following are further options for you to collect emails/sms:

• Add links to the opt-in pages - You can add widgets that link to either of the following pages:
  • /account/join -> This is the join page where the user must create an account and has the option to opt-in or out
  • /subscribe -> This is the subscribe page where the user opts in for email and/or sms
• Home Page Pop-Up - If you would like a pop-up to appear on the home page, there is an article later describing how to set this up
  • Click here to read this article
• Subscriber Widget - You can add a Subscriber Widget to any page where widgets can be added.  This adds a box where the user can enter their email address and click SUBSCRIBE.

NOTE: If you are using Mailchimp or Klaviyo you can add pop up and pages from those platforms also. Contact Helpdesk for more information.