Australia’s long-standing connection with SMS has endured significant evolution in the mobile landscape, through increasing smartphone penetration, the rise of over-the-top (OTT) messaging, mobile payments and expanding digital commerce industries.
For Australian retailers, few communication tools can match SMS’s reach and impressive open rates (94 per cent). However, the technology has not significantly evolved from when it was first introduced in the 90’s, offering little scope for the sophistication demanded by retailers today to offer messages to consumers that are personalised and engaging. Retailers now need a more advanced solution to enhance customer experiences. Enter Rich Communication Services (RCS).
As a powerful communication tool with an already established audience base, RCS is expected to reshape the current SMS marketing landscape once it hits our shores. By using RCS, Australian brands can boost engagement and trust, while offering a more dynamic experience that represents an opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
Since 2008, RCS has been promising an advanced format of messaging which is rich with additional features, building on the original SMS format. The adoption to date has been limited but that is about to change. Apple adopted RCS in Messages with iOS 18 in 2025, while Google supports the technology via Android, even if a user’s phone carrier doesn’t. Australian telcos are set to follow suit, with a potential local rollout of RCS with Google as soon as this year. 
These efforts could align Australia with our neighbour Singapore, where Singtel recently announced their partnership with Twilio for RCS messaging.
Retail brands in Australia going global can no longer afford to sleep on RCS. In fact, a recent Twilio survey conducted at Mobile World Congress 2025 found that a significant 60 per cent of respondents found RCS having an ‘overwhelmingly positive’ impact on their customer communications. In markets where RCS is available, many global brands have managed to significantly improve both engagement and conversions. 
Fresha, a booking platform serving the beauty and wellness industry, saw the engagement impact of RCS first-hand, including a 41.3 per cent read rate on appointment messages. By transitioning from SMS to RCS with technology from Twilio and Google, Fresha is able to offer a secure, high-impact channel for customer communication, featuring verified sender identities, rich media, and interactive buttons. Fresha’s RCS messages have achieved a 99.2 per cent delivery rate.
The standout differentiator is RCS’s ability to deliver more visually compelling content. For example, the Rich Card Carousel lets retailers send a horizontally scrolling selection of cards embedded with media, text, and call-to-action buttons, giving customers a seamless way to browse offerings and engage with the business directly.
RCS messaging also supports dynamic features like options for suggested replies and call-to-action (CTA) buttons that streamline customer interactions. Retailers can send shoppable lookbooks, where customers can tap to view products, get personalised recommendations, and make purchases all in one place.
The impact is clear: In one example, a paint brand saw a 115 per cent revenue boost and clickthrough rates rising from under 3 per cent with SMS to 21 per cent after switching campaigns to RCS.
The National Anti-Scam Centre reported 108,000 scams to the cost of about $174 million in the first half of 2025. With scams rife, consumers are understandably sceptical of texts from random numbers that prompt them to click unfamiliar links.
With changing regulations to address and reduce spam at our doorstep, the uncertainty and perceived risk become a thing of the past with RCS, thanks to branded messaging – such as attaching logos and taglines – and verified sender IDs. 
Alongside consumers being able to verify the legitimacy of a message’s sender, RCS is also backed by encryption between sender and recipient. With these high security standards, retail brands can create a trusted relationship directly with customers. This, in turn, leads to greater response rates and better customer engagement.
With RCS, there are no barriers to entry. Unlike many other forms of digital communication, users don’t need to download a new app or set up a new account; they can receive an RCS message just as they would any other text message. Even if a user’s device doesn’t support RCS, the message will automatically be sent as an SMS.
This allows retailers to upgrade their messaging, refreshing a pre-existing, ubiquitous communication channel, but with the reassurance that they can still reach the exact same audience.
Twilio’s RCS is designed for two-way communication, offering an app-like experience for customers to interact with businesses, not a one-way broadcast.
RCS puts marketers in the driving seat, providing retailers with detailed delivery and read receipts alongside other analytics. This means brands can stay agile, allowing them to analyse message effectiveness and fine-tune communication strategies. It also represents another touchpoint for brands to better understand their customers and their preferences, leveraging first-party data consensually shared by customers.
The appetite for more interactive and engaging experiences is clearly growing among customers, so the next move belongs to Australian retailers ready to embrace the future of messaging to increase engagement, streamline operations, and build greater trust.
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