The best Christmas SMS templates are short and specific: your brand name first, one useful message such as a delivery cut-off or gift offer, one link, and an opt-out line, all inside one 160-character SMS. Below are 25 templates for the 2026 season, from early gift guides to the Boxing Day sale on Saturday 26 December, each with its exact character count.
Christmas texts work best when they help the customer as much as they sell to them. Last order dates, click and collect times and opening hours get read and acted on, and the SMS.to messaging features let you schedule them in advance, personalise them and track every link.
When should you send Christmas texts in 2026?
Christmas Day falls on a Friday in 2026, which gives shoppers a full weekend and a Monday to Thursday run-in. A practical calendar:
| Dates | Message focus |
|---|---|
| Tue 1 to Fri 11 Dec | Gift guides, early offers, gift wrapping, advent-style daily deals |
| Mon 14 to Fri 18 Dec | Standard and express delivery cut-offs |
| Sat 19 to Wed 23 Dec | Click and collect, e-gift cards, last appointments |
| Thu 24 Dec | Christmas Eve opening hours, last-minute gifts |
| Fri 25 Dec | Greeting only, or nothing |
| Sat 26 Dec | Boxing Day sale |
| Sun 27 to Thu 31 Dec | Returns information, sale reminders |
| Fri 1 to Sun 3 Jan 2027 | New year offers, final days of the winter sale |
Use your own carriers’ published last-order dates rather than a generic guide, and send the reminder two or three days before the cut-off, not on the day. If you also ran a Black Friday campaign, your list has already had several messages in November. One or two marketing texts a week through December is enough for most brands; service messages about orders, collections and bookings do not count towards that budget.
Schedule every send in the recipient’s local time and avoid early mornings and late evenings, especially over the holiday weekend.
How long should a Christmas SMS be?
Keep it to one segment: 160 characters in the standard GSM-7 alphabet. The seasonal trap is emoji. A Christmas tree or snowflake switches the whole message to UCS-2, where one SMS holds only 70 characters.
For example, the 97-character line “Our Christmas gift guide is live: presents for everyone on your list from £10, with free wrapping” is one GSM-7 segment. Add a Christmas tree emoji at the end and it becomes a 100-unit Unicode message split into 2 segments, so the same send costs twice as much. Curly apostrophes pasted from a word processor do the same thing without anyone noticing. Check every template in the SMS character counter with real names and links filled in. Our guide to SMS character limits covers the full rules.
Do Christmas greetings need an opt-out?
Treat any branded Christmas text as marketing. A greeting from a business promotes that business, and the UK ICO’s guidance on electronic mail marketing, which covers text messages, requires consent (or the soft opt-in for existing customers), a sender who is clearly identified and a working opt-out in every marketing message.
That is why every promotional template below ends with “Reply STOP to opt out”. Replies only work from a number that can receive them. If you send from an alphanumeric sender ID, use a one-click opt-out link instead; SMS.to adds one when you include the opt-out tag in your message. Our SMS marketing compliance guide explains consent records and automated opt-outs.
Order, collection and booking updates are service messages and can go without the opt-out line, as long as they contain no promotional content.
25 Christmas SMS templates
Words in square brackets are placeholders. Counts assume a 12-character brand name, a 10-character first name, a 12-character store name, an 8-character order number, 10 characters for a date, 7 for a time and a 23-character short link. On those assumptions every template fits one GSM-7 segment. Square brackets count as two characters each in GSM-7, so make sure no placeholder is left in the final message. If your real brand name or links are longer, recount before sending.
Gift guides and early offers
Template 2 invites a reply, so it needs a two-way number as the sender.
| # | Template | Characters | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Brand]: Our Christmas gift guide is here, with ideas for everyone on your list from £10: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 140 | 1 |
| 2 | [Brand]: Stuck for gift ideas, [Name]? Reply with who you’re buying for and your budget, and we’ll text back 3 picks. Reply STOP to opt out | 148 | 1 |
| 3 | [Brand]: 12 days of deals start Tue 1 Dec. A new offer every morning at 9am, for text subscribers only. Reply STOP to opt out | 130 | 1 |
| 4 | [Brand]: Christmas early bird: 20% off gift sets until Sun 6 Dec with code EARLY20: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 134 | 1 |
| 5 | [Brand]: Free gift wrapping on every order this December. Add a personal note at checkout: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 141 | 1 |
Delivery cut-offs and click and collect
Templates 9 and 10 are service messages about an existing order, so they carry no opt-out line.
| # | Template | Characters | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | [Brand]: Order with standard delivery by [Date] to receive it before Christmas: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 134 | 1 |
| 7 | [Brand]: Last day for guaranteed Christmas delivery. Order express by 2pm today: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 131 | 1 |
| 8 | [Brand]: Missed the delivery cut-off? Click and collect from [Store] is open until 4pm on [Date]: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 157 | 1 |
| 9 | [Brand]: Your order [Order] has been dispatched and is due on [Date]. Track it here: [Link] | 118 | 1 |
| 10 | [Brand]: Your order [Order] is ready to collect from [Store]. Please bring this text and collect by [Date]. | 122 | 1 |
Last-minute gifts and gift cards
| # | Template | Characters | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | [Brand]: Left it late? Our e-gift cards arrive by email in minutes, from £10: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 128 | 1 |
| 12 | [Brand]: Christmas Eve we’re open 8am to 4pm at [Store], with free gift wrapping in store. Reply STOP to opt out | 122 | 1 |
| 13 | [Brand]: Buy a £50 gift card before 24 Dec and we’ll add a £10 bonus card for you: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 133 | 1 |
| 14 | [Brand]: Secret Santa sorted. Gifts under £20, ready to ship or collect today: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 129 | 1 |
Opening hours, bookings and appointments
Template 17 is a booking reminder that asks for a reply, so send it from a two-way number and route the replies to your booking system.
| # | Template | Characters | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | [Brand]: Festive hours: 24 Dec 9am-3pm, closed 25-26 Dec, open again Sun 27 Dec 10am-4pm. Reply STOP to opt out | 116 | 1 |
| 16 | [Brand]: December tables are filling up. Book your Christmas party and get a free glass of fizz per guest: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 157 | 1 |
| 17 | [Brand]: Reminder: you’re booked in at [Time] on [Date]. Reply C to confirm or R to reschedule. | 105 | 1 |
| 18 | [Brand]: Pre-Christmas appointments are going fast. Last availability is 23 Dec, book yours: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 143 | 1 |
Greetings and thank-you messages
| # | Template | Characters | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | [Brand]: Merry Christmas, [Name], and thank you for shopping with us this year. We’re closed today and back on 27 Dec. Reply STOP to opt out | 149 | 1 |
| 20 | [Brand]: From all of us, thank you for your support this year. Wishing you a happy and restful Christmas. Reply STOP to opt out | 132 | 1 |
| 21 | [Brand]: Happy holidays, [Name]. As a thank you, take 15% off in January with code NEWYEAR15: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 148 | 1 |
Boxing Day, returns and new year
| # | Template | Characters | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | [Brand]: Boxing Day sale starts online at 8am, Sat 26 Dec. Up to 50% off and text subscribers get in first: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 158 | 1 |
| 23 | [Brand]: The Boxing Day sale is live. Up to 50% off online and at [Store]: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 130 | 1 |
| 24 | [Brand]: Unwanted gift? Returns on Christmas purchases are open until 31 Jan. Start a return here: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 149 | 1 |
| 25 | [Brand]: Final days of our winter sale. Up to 60% off, ending Sun 3 Jan: [Link] Reply STOP to opt out | 123 | 1 |
Who should get which Christmas message?
Segmenting keeps December volumes sensible and opt-outs low:
- Customers with open orders get dispatch and collection updates, not extra promotions on the same day.
- Recent buyers get gift card, wrapping and early Boxing Day access messages.
- Engaged subscribers who have not bought get the gift guide and one delivery cut-off reminder.
- Local customers get opening hours and click and collect messages for their nearest store.
- Service businesses such as salons, restaurants and clinics focus on bookings and reminders rather than discounts.
Give each campaign its own tracked short link so you can see which messages drove clicks. If your peak starts earlier, see our Black Friday SMS templates.
How SMS.to handles Christmas campaigns
You can build the whole December calendar at once and let it run. The features of the SMS.to platform that matter most at Christmas:
- Scheduling from the web platform, or through the SMS API using
scheduled_forandtimezone, so each message lands at the right local time. - Personalisation with up to 5 dynamic tags, such as first name, store or order details.
- Tracked short links that report click-through rates per campaign and keep your character count down.
- Opt-out management with a one-click opt-out link and opt-out lists applied to later campaigns.
- Two-way numbers for replies, booking confirmations and gift-idea requests.
- Delivery reports so you can see what reached handsets and fix problems before the next send.
FAQs
When is the best time to send Christmas marketing texts?
Early December for gift guides, the week of 14 December for delivery cut-offs, and 19 to 24 December for click and collect, gift cards and opening hours. Send between mid-morning and early evening in the recipient’s time zone.
Should I send a text on Christmas Day?
Only a short greeting, if at all. Christmas Day falls on a Friday in 2026, and most customers would rather not receive promotions that day. If you do send one, include your opt-out line like any other marketing text.
Can I use emoji in Christmas SMS templates?
You can, but a single emoji switches the message to Unicode and cuts the one-SMS limit from 160 to 70 characters. Most promotional messages then become two or three segments and cost more to send.
Do order updates need an opt-out line?
No. Dispatch, delivery and collection messages about an order the customer placed are service messages. Keep them free of promotional content; once you add an offer, treat the message as marketing.
Ready to plan your December? Create a free account, no credit card needed, import your opted-in contacts and schedule your first Christmas campaign.
