Setting up Twilio for SMS
SMS is the highest-engagement channel we offer — about a 98% open rate vs. 25% for email — but it requires a Twilio account and a verified toll-free number. Here is the full setup, end to end, with the timing you should expect.
Why Twilio (and why a toll-free number)
Restock Notify uses your own Twilio account to send SMS rather than a shared pool, for three reasons: it keeps your sender reputation tied to your shop name, you control your own opt-in records, and the deliverability beats any shared service we'd run for you.
For US shops, US-to-US business SMS now requires a verified toll-free number (TFN) under the carrier rules adopted by AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. You can't text customers from a local 10-digit number without one. We pre-fill the verification form with all your shop info so the application is as fast as possible.
Step 1 — Create a Twilio account ~10 min
Sign up at twilio.com. Use a business email under your shop's domain if you have one. Twilio will ask for ID and a credit card on file; this is normal — they keep an account in good standing for compliance.
Once your account is approved, grab the Account SID and Auth Token from the Twilio console dashboard. Both look like long alphanumeric strings.
Step 2 — Connect Twilio to Restock Notify ~1 min
In Restock Notify, go to Settings → SMS. Paste the Account SID and Auth Token. Hit Save. We never log either value in plain text.
Step 3 — Pre-fill and submit toll-free verification ~5 min
After credentials are saved, the Settings → SMS page surfaces a "Toll-free verification" button. Click it and we drop you into the Twilio TFN verification form with every field pre-filled from your shop profile — business name, address, website, opt-in language, sample messages. Review, edit anything inaccurate, submit.
Step 4 — Wait for carrier approval 7–14 business days
Carriers review the verification application. Approval typically takes 7–14 business days; we've seen it as fast as 3 and as slow as 21. You can keep using email-only alerts during the wait; the SMS radio in the composer stays greyed out with a helper tooltip explaining the status.
If the carrier rejects the application (usually a wording issue in the opt-in language or sample messages), they tell us why and we surface that in Settings → SMS so you can fix and resubmit. Most rejections are resolved on the first revision.
What works while you wait
Email alerts. The full restock-alert pipeline, the lapsed-customer winback engine, the dashboard — everything works on email-only. SMS is additive, not required. Most shops launch with email-first and SMS turns on a week or two later.