CAC is up. Clicks are down. Here’s how smart Shopify brands are scaling with less noise and more revenue.
Why You Should Care (Right Now)
It’s hard to run a Shopify brand in 2025. Ads? Oversaturated. Social reach? Throttled. CAC? Still climbing.
But while many brands are throwing their money at paid traffic, the most profitable stores are doubling down on what they can control, owned channels like email and SMS.
This article shows you how to turn email and SMS into major revenue streams that work around the clock, so you make money even while you sleep.
Owned > Rented Channels
Let’s break it down.
Rented channels = paid ads, influencers, social. You play by someone else’s rules, and algorithms change overnight.
Owned channels = email and SMS. You own the list. You own the reach. You control the message.
Here’s why owned media is the revenue flywheel every serious brand is investing in:
- Cost-efficient: No CPMs. No bidding wars. Just revenue from assets you already built.
- High intent: These folks opted in. They’re already warm and primed to buy.
- Fast results: Most emails/SMS get opened within hours, some within minutes.
📊 Shopify reports average email open rates of 33–36%, with 21% of opens happening in the first hour.
That’s light years ahead of your Instagram post buried under a hundred others.
The Flows That Print Money
Here’s what “revenue on autopilot” actually looks like.
Set these up once. Let them work 24/7:
- Welcome Flow
➤ Introduce the brand. Make an offer. Build trust.
- Cart Recovery
➤ Bring back would-be buyers who bailed.
- Post-Purchase
➤ Thank them, then offer something complementary while they’re still in “buy” mode.
- Win-Back
➤ Reignite customers who’ve gone quiet.
💡 Shopify flags 7 core automations as essential for DTC brands, and they keep converting whether you’re asleep, in a meeting, or managing your ads.
SMS Is Still Criminally Underrated
Most brands treat SMS like a seasonal fling.
But the truth is SMS drives action faster than email ever could.
- 97% open rates
- Most reads happen in under 3 minutes
- Perfect for flash sales, restocks, and launches
Think of SMS like a well-timed reminder. It shows up when it matters most.
📲 Shopify confirms SMS is ideal for time-sensitive promotions, with the majority of messages read within minutes.
If you’re only emailing, you’re missing out on a lot of extra revenue.
Email + SMS: Better Together
Email builds the relationship, and SMS drives the click. Separately, they work. Together? They crush.
Here’s how savvy brands are stacking them:
- Welcome flow = email drip + SMS reminder on offer expiration
- Cart recovery = email for the offer + SMS for urgency
- Post-purchase = email for cross-sells + SMS for personalized reorder links
🎯 As Jacob Sappington put it on the Shopify blog:
“SMS & email together outperform either channel alone.”
It’s not either/or, it’s both/and. That’s how you create a seamless customer journey.
How to Audit (or Fix) Your Email & SMS Setup
Want to start generating more “hands-off” revenue? Start here:
✅ Check your welcome flow
→ Is it personal, offer-driven, and mobile-optimized?
✅ Automate your post-purchase offers
→ Don’t wait weeks, upsell add-ons while the intent is hot.
✅ Layer SMS into key touchpoints
→ Abandoned cart, checkout, thank-you. Anywhere you’re leaking the most revenue.
✅ Segment based on behavior
→ Don’t send the same blast to everyone. Use purchase data, clicks, and LTV to personalize your messages.
Each of these flows doesn’t just save you time, they print money.
Ready to Put Revenue on Autopilot?
Owned media isn’t just a channel, it’s a growth engine.
Email and SMS are your most profitable and predictable levers. So before you sink another $10K into ads that barely move the needle, ask yourself:
Are you building predictable revenue, or just chasing the next sale?
Join Ezra’s free webinar on July 1st to see the automated flows behind SafeSleeve and other 8-figure brands, and how you can plug them into your store.
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