Attentive Supports RCS Business Messaging

This moves Attentive from plain text alerts into a richer shopping surface inside the default messaging app. RCS lets a brand send a verified message thread with images, video, carousels, quick reply buttons, and purchase flows, so the customer can browse and act without jumping through multiple links. The Google and carrier partnerships matter because RCS business messaging only works at scale when the sender is verified and the network path is approved end to end.

• RCS changes what a marketing text can do. Instead of a short code and a link, the message can arrive from the brand name itself, include prefilled replies, and show product cards natively. That turns texting from a click out channel into an in thread commerce experience.
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• The timing is important because U.S. reach has expanded fast. Apple added RCS support to iPhone with iOS 18 on September 16, 2024, where carrier support is available, and Google said in May 2025 that RCS traffic in the U.S. had passed 1 billion messages per day.
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• This also keeps Attentive competitive as messaging platforms converge. Klaviyo added RCS and WhatsApp in 2025 as it broadened from email and SMS into a wider B2C CRM stack, so richer messaging is becoming table stakes for ecommerce marketing platforms, not a side feature.
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The next step is that more campaign budget shifts from SMS with links toward message threads that behave more like mini storefronts. As iPhone and carrier coverage deepens, the winners will be platforms that combine identity, targeting, creative, and measurement into one workflow, because brands will want to run richer messaging without rebuilding their stack channel by channel.