Email vs. SMS delivery: Which is better for bulk gift cards?
By Monique Tan●4 min. read●Oct 24, 2025
When you're sending thousands of gift cards, choosing between email and SMS delivery isn't just about preference — it's about deliverability, cost, and getting rewards into recipients' hands fast.
With 56% of gift cards redeemed within the first six months and digital cards redeemed in just 16.8 days on average, your delivery method can make or break redemption rates. Both channels have their place in bulk distribution, but understanding when to use each (or both) can make the difference between high redemption rates and frustrated recipients who never see their rewards.
The short answer: Default to email for most bulk sends, switch to SMS for time-sensitive rewards or hard-to-reach recipients, and ideally run both with smart fallbacks based on recipient behavior.
Which channel should you choose?
Email remains the go-to for bulk gift card distribution — it's cost-effective at scale, supports rich branding, and lets you include detailed redemption instructions. SMS works best for urgent deliveries, last-minute promotions, or recipients who rarely check email.
The smartest approach? Use both channels strategically, with email as your primary and SMS as your high-priority fallback.
Your choice depends on three factors: consent status (what permissions you have), geography (where recipients live), and context (how quickly they need rewards). Here's how the channels stack up:
| Feature | SMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery speed | Instant delivery to user’s inbox | Instant to user’s phone, typically read within minutes |
| Engagement | Averages a low 20% open rate | 98% open rate, due to direct, personal nature |
| Cost at scale | Platform fees only, marginal cost near zero | Per-message pricing that scales with volume |
| Content flexibility | Unlimited length, images, multiple links | Character limits require concise messaging |
| Fraud risk | Phishing via lookalike domains | Smishing via spoofed numbers |
| Set up requirements | Domain authentication, warm-up period | Carrier registration, sender IDs globally |
| Best for | Default channel, detailed instructions, branding | Urgent rewards, low-email audiences, reminders |
Which has better deliverability: Email or SMS?
Getting your message delivered means navigating different filtering systems. Email providers check your sending domain's reputation, authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and recipient engagement history. SMS carriers verify your sender registration, scan for prohibited content, and throttle based on your throughput limits.
Email gives you control over your sender reputation and unlimited content space for instructions, terms, and branded designs. You can track opens, clicks, and engagement to optimize future sends. The downside? Corporate firewalls, aggressive spam filters, and the dreaded promotions tab can bury your messages. Gmail now requires bulk senders to maintain spam complaint rates below 0.1% and never exceed 0.3%, with mandatory one-click unsubscribe for promotional messages as of June 2024.
SMS
SMS cuts through the noise — messages land directly on the recipient's phone with near-perfect deliverability. Character limits force you to be concise, which can actually improve redemption when recipients want gift cards fast. The tradeoffs are real though: strict carrier compliance, per-message costs that add up quickly, and heightened scrutiny on any included links. In the US alone, Americans sent 2.1 trillion text messages in 2023 (≈ 67,000 per second), so standing out means being relevant, not just present.
Is email or SMS faster for gift card delivery?
SMS wins on immediacy — brands can reach consumers virtually 24/7, as 90% of texts are read within three minutes. Email varies wildly based on the recipient's habits, with B2B emails often sitting unread for hours or days. But "faster" doesn't always mean "better." An SMS at 9pm might annoy recipients, while an email waits politely in their inbox for Monday morning.
For time-sensitive rewards like same-day incentives or flash promotions, SMS is the winner. For quarterly bonuses or recognition programs where recipients have time to redeem, email's lower cost and richer content make more sense.
What setup is required for email vs. SMS delivery?
Both channels require proper setup, but SMS has stricter barriers to entry.
Email setup involves authenticating your sending domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, warming up your IP address with gradual volume increases, and maintaining suppression lists for bounces and unsubscribes. Tremendous handles authentication and delivery optimization automatically when you send through our platform.
SMS setup is more complex. In the US, you need A2P 10DLC registration for business messaging, which can take days to weeks for approval. Other countries require pre-registered sender IDs or have specific formatting requirements. You'll need explicit opt-in consent (not just implied), STOP/HELP message handling, and clear disclosures about message frequency and rates.
Is email or SMS cheaper for bulk sending?
Email costs are mostly fixed — platform fees that barely change whether you send 1,000 or 100,000 messages. SMS costs scale linearly at $0.01-0.05 per message in the U.S. in 2025, often higher internationally, plus potential charges for MMS if you include images or exceed character limits.
Run the math on your program: if you're sending 10,000 monthly rewards averaging $25 each, SMS might add $500 in delivery costs — just 0.2% of reward value. But for lower-value, higher-volume programs like $5 survey incentives, SMS could eat 1-2% of your budget. Factor delivery costs into your CAC calculations, especially for international programs where SMS rates vary dramatically by country.
Which channel is safer against fraud and abuse?
Both channels face sophisticated fraud attempts.
Email phishing accounted for 193,407 FBI complaints in 2024, part of $16.6 billion in reported cyber losses.
SMS isn't immune — 70% of respondents worry texts received from brands pose a data security risk, and smishing attacks exploit trust in text messages with fake redemption links.
Expert tip: Protect your program by using recognizable sender names, branded domains (not generic URL shorteners), and short-lived redemption links. Even better, Tremendous generates unique, single-use gift card codes with built-in fraud detection, whether you send via email or SMS. We monitor for unusual redemption patterns and can instantly disable suspicious links.
Which channel works better for international recipients?
Email stays consistent globally — same authentication, similar filtering, just translate your content. SMS gets complicated fast. Each country has different sender ID requirements, character encoding rules for non-Latin alphabets, and carrier relationships that affect delivery. Some markets barely use SMS, preferring WhatsApp or WeChat for business messages.
In the UK, where 18% of internet users only access the web via smartphone, SMS might be your primary channel. In Japan, email dominates business communication. Tremendous automatically handles international SMS compliance and routing, but consider your audience's preferences — ask recipients during onboarding which channel they prefer.
Sending bulk rewards with Tremendous
The best rewards programs don't force a choice between email and SMS — they use both strategically.
Tremendous lets you set channel preferences by recipient, program, or reward value. Send via email by default, automatically switch to SMS for bounced emails, and track redemption across both channels in a single dashboard.
Ready to see how Tremendous handles multi-channel reward delivery at scale? Schedule a demo to explore our platform and discuss your distribution needs.
