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“Thank you Bidvest team for your great service throughout 2024.”
- MTN
“Working with the Bidvest team is a real pleasure. We've thoroughly enjoyed partnering with a local provider for our business' WhatsApp profile - invoicing is simple and our templates are loaded and approved speedily. Prepaid24 would highly recommend Bidvest. Such a seamless process from setup to production!”
- Prepaid24
“We're incredibly grateful to the Bidvest Data Team who go above and beyond to support us with vital customer communication. Their commitment and innovation has kept us at the forefront of electronic customer engagement.”
- Sanlam Retail Mass
“Dear Bidvest team, Just wanted to take the time to say a very special thank you to TEAM BIDVEST. Everyone at OUP thanks all the people involved over the last few weeks and trust me, everyone in our organization now knows how much we can depend on Bidvest and we're all truly grateful for your efforts. Your responsiveness to our changing needs and requests is truly appreciated”
- Oxford
Discover how zero-rated SMS can bolster retail engagement—improving customer communication and driving sales without cost barriers. Explore strategies and real-world applications.
In an era where customer engagement is paramount, South African retail businesses must leverage innovative strategies to foster better communication with their consumer base. One such strategy is the use of zero-rated SMS as a tool designed to enhance retail engagement without incurring costs for the customer. This guide explores the implementation, benefits, and successful strategies of zero-rated SMS in the retail sector.
Zero-rated SMS allows businesses to send promotional messages without recipients being charged for receiving them. This approach can transform how retailers engage with their audiences, enabling more effective communication that drives customer interaction and loyalty.
Successfully deploying zero-rated SMS campaigns requires careful planning and thought. Below are best practices for implementation:
Many retail leaders in South Africa are increasingly adopting zero-rated SMS strategies. Here are some compelling use cases:
Retailers can send targeted promotional offers that encourage immediate purchases and enhance foot traffic into stores.
Inform customers about upcoming sales events, exclusive launches, or in-store promotions, without incurring communication costs.
To evaluate the effectiveness of zero-rated SMS campaigns, businesses should establish key performance indicators (KPIs) such as:
Zero-rated SMS offers a powerful solution for retail enterprises aiming to enhance their engagement strategies with customers. By adopting this innovative approach, retailers not only remove financial barriers to communication but also significantly improve their connection and relationship with their customer base. As competition increases, leveraging tools like zero-rated SMS will be pivotal for long-term success in the South African retail landscape.
Get started today and see immediate results
Get answers to common questions about Sms And Svsms
“Thank you Bidvest team for your great service throughout 2024.”
- MTN
“Working with the Bidvest team is a real pleasure. We've thoroughly enjoyed partnering with a local provider for our business' WhatsApp profile - invoicing is simple and our templates are loaded and approved speedily. Prepaid24 would highly recommend Bidvest. Such a seamless process from setup to production!”
- Prepaid24
“We're incredibly grateful to the Bidvest Data Team who go above and beyond to support us with vital customer communication. Their commitment and innovation has kept us at the forefront of electronic customer engagement.”
- Sanlam Retail Mass
“Dear Bidvest team, Just wanted to take the time to say a very special thank you to TEAM BIDVEST. Everyone at OUP thanks all the people involved over the last few weeks and trust me, everyone in our organization now knows how much we can depend on Bidvest and we're all truly grateful for your efforts. Your responsiveness to our changing needs and requests is truly appreciated”
- Oxford
Discover our comprehensive solution features designed to transform your business communication experience

Bidvest Data sends on average more than 10 million personalized SMS/SV SMS messages per month, with daily peaks exceeding 2 million messages. This comprises mainly of transactional notifications and hosted transactional data.

The SMS channel delivers a secure, shortened personalized URL to the consumer, directing them to their unique microsite. All consumer activity can be tracked.

PDF documents, HTML content, videos and animations can be hosted on our Zero Rated Data domains. Reverse billing of data on these domains ensure access for end users to content at no cost. Bidvest Data offers this service on all South African and Namibian mobile networks.

Bidvest Data offers custom-built, screen adaptive, HTML environments, enabling features like animation, rotating GIFs, and interactive buttons.

Our service includes automated large file batch sending through sFTP data transfer. The data can selectively drive template messaging. Near real-time SMS sending is facilitated through our API, using templates or dynamic text.

Where another channel in our omnichannel platform is unsuccessful in delivering a message, we can automatically fail over to SMS. Priority and fail over channels are configurable.

Bidvest Data provides near-real-time and periodic aggregate batched reporting on consumer engagement, including link tracking, SMS and SV SMS delivery status, and customized reports on microsite access.