Beauty and wellness firm Fresha adopts rich communication services messaging, powered by Twilio and Google

Beauty booking platform Fresha has adopted rich communication services (RCS) messaging powered by cloud communication provider Twilio and Google, aiming to build customer trust and drive growth.

Fresha’s system facilitates more than 700,000 daily beauty and wellness appointments for 130,000 partners across 120 countries. It has been working with Twilio since 2016 and recently upgraded from an SMS messaging service to RCS.

The platform has reported improvements as a result of the change, including a 41.3% read rate on appointment messages, a 7.1% increase in customer reviews, a 5.3% increase in tipping and a 6% increase in the number of customers confirming their appointments.

RCS messaging offers verified sender identification as well as rich media and interactive buttons. Using the new system, Fresha can provide branded notifications, appointment reminders and thank you messages. 

“We’re here to make life easier for salon owners, putting their needs front and center in everything we design,” says Jeremy Miller, Head of Product at Fresha. “When messages come from a verified, recognisable Fresha brand, people engage more because they know it’s genuine. That trust leads to stronger relationships and better outcomes.”

“RCS stands out because it’s trustworthy,” adds Stephen Brough, Global GTM Head of RCS for Business at Google. “When customers clearly see who is messaging them, they engage more - they’re more likely to respond, confirm appointments or  share a review. Trust makes all the difference.”

Earlier this year, fashion retailer Luisaviaroma said it had transformed its marketing strategy and customer engagement with Twilio Segment, achieving improvement in return on ad spend (ROAS) on Meta platforms while improving operational efficiency.

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Customer engagement will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which will open for entries in April, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.