Email vs. SMS vs. Push: Which Channel Drives the Highest Revenue Per Send?

Your email open rate looks great. Your SMS click-through rate is climbing. But which channel puts the most money in your pocket per message sent?

We compiled data from industry benchmarks across ecommerce stores to compare the one metric that cuts through vanity numbers - email vs SMS vs push notification revenue. We call it revenue per send. It is the single number that tells you which channel truly performs.

Here is a quick preview. Email generates $0.08-$0.12 per send. SMS delivers $0.13-$0.18. Push notifications land at $0.02-$0.06. But the real story is not in the averages. It is in when and how you use each channel.

This article breaks down the revenue per send by channel, shows where each one performs best, and gives you a practical framework for allocating your retention marketing budget.

Stop Comparing Open Rates - Compare Revenue Per Send

Revenue per send is simple. Take the total revenue a channel generates and divide it by the total number of messages sent. That single number tells you how much money each message produces on average. When you understand email vs SMS vs push notification revenue through this lens, the right budget decisions become much clearer.

Why does this matter more than open rates? Because those metrics can mislead you. A channel with a 90% open rate but tiny email vs SMS vs push notification revenue is not your best performer. A channel with a 15% open rate but strong revenue per send might be your workhorse.

Revenue per send normalizes for list size, frequency, and engagement in one number. It is the fairest way to compare channels.

The Cost Side of the Equation

Revenue per send only tells half the story. You also need to know the cost per send:

• Email: $0.001-$0.003 per send (Klaviyo, Mailchimp)
• SMS: $0.01-$0.05 per send (varies by country and carrier)
• Push: $0.001-$0.005 per send (nearly free after platform cost)

When you subtract cost from revenue, you get net revenue per send. That is the true comparison metric. SMS may earn more per message, but it also costs 5-15x more to send.

Revenue Per Send Across Email, SMS, and Push Notifications

Now let us dig into the actual email vs SMS vs push notification revenue data. Every number below reflects ecommerce benchmarks - not all-industry averages that dilute the picture.

Email - The Reliable Workhorse

Email marketing revenue per recipient sits at $0.08-$0.12 for campaigns and $0.15-$0.35 for automated flows. Open rates for ecommerce average 35-45%. Click rates hover at 1.5-3.5%, with 3-5% of clickers converting.

Email delivers the largest reachable audience and the most content flexibility. It works best for storytelling, welcome series, and post-purchase flows. Litmus and DMA data show email marketing revenue per recipient translates to $36-$42 ROI for every $1 spent.

The weakness? Inbox competition is fierce, engagement on promotional sends is declining, and response times are slower.

SMS - The High-Impact Sprinter

The SMS marketing ROI Shopify stores see is strong. Revenue per send comes in at $0.13-$0.18 for campaigns and $0.20-$0.45 for flows. Open rates reach 90-98%, click-through rates hit 10-15%, and 8-12% of clickers convert.

SMS shines for urgency. Messages arrive within seconds and perform well on time-sensitive offers. Cart abandonment SMS recovers 10-20% of abandoned carts, compared to 5-15% for email.

The weakness? Smaller list sizes, higher cost per send, and strict compliance rules. You cannot tell a long story in 160 characters. Despite the cost, strong SMS marketing ROI Shopify merchants report makes it worth including in your mix.

Push Notifications - The Low-Cost Wildcard

Push notification conversion rate ecommerce data shows revenue per send at $0.02-$0.06. Web push open rates sit at 5-15%, mobile app push reaches 30-50%, and click rates average 4-8%.

Push notifications are nearly free to send and require no personal data for web push. They work well for re-engagement, browse abandonment, and price drop alerts. But opt-in rates are the lowest of all three channels, and messages are easy to dismiss.

Automated flows generate 3-5x more revenue per send than campaign sends across all three channels. If you are not using automated flows yet, that is where the biggest gains are hiding.

Why the Same Channel Performs Differently Across Stores

Two stores can use the same email platform, send the same number of campaigns, and see wildly different revenue per send by channel. The difference usually comes down to what happens on the website before the message ever goes out.

On-Site Experience Shapes Off-Site Results

Visitors who had a positive on-site experience convert at higher rates from every channel. A visitor who left your store feeling uncertain will not respond well to an SMS 2 hours later. But a visitor who almost purchased - who added items to cart and felt genuine interest - converts at 3-5x the rate from a follow-up message. The on-site experience is the foundation. The channel is just the delivery method.

The Segment Quality Problem

Email vs SMS vs push notification revenue depends heavily on list quality. Sending SMS to your full list produces lower revenue per send than sending only to cart abandoners. The real question is not "which channel is best" but "which channel reaches the right person at the right moment."

This is why understanding visitor behavior before they leave matters. Growth Suite tracks every interaction - products viewed, time on page, cart activity - and predicts purchase intent in real time. When you know who your dedicated buyers and walk-away customers are, every follow-up message becomes more targeted and more profitable.

How to Split Your Budget Across Email, SMS, and Push

There is no single "best channel." The right allocation depends on your store's stage, list sizes, and average order value. Here is a practical framework for finding the best marketing channel for Shopify stores.

The 60/30/10 Starting Framework

• Email (60% of effort): The foundation of retention marketing. Best for welcome series, post-purchase flows, educational content, and re-engagement campaigns.
• SMS (30% of effort): High-impact moments only. Best for cart abandonment, flash sales, back-in-stock alerts, and shipping updates.
• Push (10% of effort): Supplementary channel. Best for price drop alerts, browse abandonment, and re-engagement for visitors who did not leave an email.

When to Shift the Mix

• If your AOV is above $100, lean harder into SMS. Higher SMS marketing ROI Shopify stores see at this price point justifies the higher cost per send.
• If your list is under 5,000, focus on email list building first before investing heavily in SMS.
• If you sell impulse-buy products under $30, push notifications can outperform their benchmarks. The low cost makes even modest push notification conversion rate ecommerce results profitable.

The Coordination Principle

Channels work best together, not in isolation. A well-timed sequence outperforms blasting the same message everywhere at once:

1. Browse abandonment push notification (1 hour after exit)
2. Follow-up email (4 hours after exit)
3. SMS (24 hours later, only for high-value carts)

When these channels drive visitors back to your store, the on-site experience determines whether the click converts. Growth Suite's A/B testing module lets you test different discount depths for returning visitors, so you find the offer that turns a "maybe later" click into a completed purchase - without giving away more margin than needed.

What Kills Revenue Per Send (Across Every Channel)

Even the best marketing channel for Shopify stores will underperform if you make these three common mistakes.

Mistake 1: Sending to Everyone, Every Time

Unsegmented blasts lower email vs SMS vs push notification revenue across all channels. When you send to your full list without filtering, you dilute your revenue per send. The fix: segment by behavior, not just demographics. A customer who browsed three product pages yesterday is a different audience than someone who has not visited in 90 days.

Mistake 2: Ignoring the On-Site-to-Message Connection

Your best-performing sends follow meaningful on-site engagement. Yet many merchants trigger messages on arbitrary timelines instead of specific actions. An abandoned cart email sent 30 minutes after strong purchase intent will always beat a generic weekly blast. Strong email vs SMS vs push notification revenue comes from relevance, not volume.

Mistake 3: Measuring the Wrong Metric Per Channel

Email teams celebrate open rates. SMS teams celebrate click rates. Push teams celebrate opt-ins. None of these pay the bills. Standardize on revenue per send by channel across your entire retention stack for a true comparison.

On-site behavioral data makes every channel smarter. When you see that a visitor viewed 5 products, added 2 to cart, and left, you know exactly what message to send - and through which channel.

The Bottom Line

SMS delivers the highest email vs SMS vs push notification revenue per send at $0.13-$0.18, but at the highest cost. Email offers the best net return thanks to near-zero sending costs and the largest audience. Push notifications work best as a low-cost supplementary channel.

But here is the key insight: revenue per send varies more by segment quality and on-site experience than by channel choice. What happens on your site before and after the send is what truly determines the outcome.

Start with the 60/30/10 framework and adjust based on your data. Most importantly, measure revenue per send across every channel.

Pick one channel. Calculate your current revenue per send. Compare it to the benchmarks above. That single number will tell you more about your retention marketing health than any dashboard of open rates.

If you want to improve what happens between the click and the purchase, Growth Suite can help. It tracks visitor behavior, identifies walk-away customers, and presents the right offer at the right moment. Start your 14-day free trial to see how on-site personalization improves your off-site channel performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

References

• Klaviyo - Email and SMS Marketing Benchmarks (2025-2026)
• Omnisend - Ecommerce Marketing Statistics
• Attentive - SMS Marketing Benchmark Report
• Postscript - SMS Revenue Data for Shopify Stores
• Litmus - State of Email Marketing Report
• DMA (Data and Marketing Association) - Email Marketing ROI
• PushOwl - Web Push Notification Benchmarks for Ecommerce
• Mailchimp - Email Marketing Benchmarks by Industry
• Shopify - Retention Marketing Best Practices