Driving $1M/yr Cost Savings with Messaging Product

Client: SumUp
Role: Product Manager
Industry: B2B, POS Solutions

Overview

SumUp, a leading B2B POS provider, faced a major challenge where 20% of customers, particularly vape & tobacco shops, could not use its text messaging product due to mobile carrier compliance issues. This led to customer churn and recurring operational issues.

By implementing a message templating solution and migrating to a new SMS vendor with unique numbers per business, the company achieved $1M/year in cost savings while significantly improving customer retention.

Challenges

  • 20% of customers couldn’t use the messaging product, leading to churn.

  • Non-compliant text messages triggered carrier blocks.

  • Existing infrastructure had only four shared phone numbers, increasing the risk of service disruptions.

  • Compliance issues created repeated operational challenges across multiple teams.

Solutions & Execution

✅ Immediate Fix: Implemented Message Templating within one week to allow customers to send compliant messages.
✅ Long-term Fix: Migrated to 10DLC (unique number per business) with a new messaging vendor.

Vendor & SMS Channel Selection:

  • Messaging Channel: Evaluated TFN, 10DLC, and Short Code for cost, throughput, and implementation ease.

  • Vendor Analysis: Compared Sinch, Twilio, Vonage, and Bandwidth for cost-effectiveness and stability.

  • Final Choice: 10DLC with Sinch, enabling high messaging throughput and compliance.

Results

🚀 Message Templating launched in 1 week, stopping customer churn.
🚀 $1M annual cost savings achieved through new vendor and messaging channel.
🚀 25% increase in customer visits due to improved loyalty program engagement.
🚀 Future-proofed messaging compliance, avoiding further disruptions.

Project Roadmap

Q2 2022: Implemented Message Templating ✅
Q3 2022: Analyzed new messaging channels & vendors ✅
Q4 2022: MVP launch of 10DLC for one business vertical ✅
Q1 2023: Full rollout across all affected businesses ✅

Key Takeaways

🔹 Iterative MVP approach accelerated implementation and feedback loops.
🔹 Cross-functional collaboration with engineering, sales, and compliance teams ensured smooth execution.
🔹 Customer-centric strategy prevented churn and strengthened SumUp’s competitive advantage.

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