What is the average open rate of SMS?

In the UK SMS is still considered to be one of the most effective forms of business communication, with an impressive 98% open rate.

With existing stats of this nature being somewhat outdated, we decided to commission our own research into the open rate of SMS. We placed a pop-up survey on our UK, Irish, French, Spanish and Australian websites. Once the surveys had gained a substantial number of responses, 992 to be exact, we were able to calculate the average global open rate of 94%.

Average open rate of SMS across Europe

Average SMS open rate for the UK: 98%
Average SMS open rate for Ireland: 94%
Average SMS open rate for France: 96%
Average SMS open rate for Spain: 89%

Average open rate of SMS in Australia

Average SMS open rate for Australia: 94%

What is the future of SMS?

With the rise in popularity of peer-to-peer rich messaging apps such as Whatsapp, SMS is evolving to incorporate some of these rich content features in the form of RCS. This new messaging channel will enable businesses to send images, videos, QR codes, arrange and rearrange appointments as well as take payments for products. All of this rich content delivered through the world’s most effective communication channel, SMS.