Setting up Concierge SMS

Relevant to:

Concierge SMS is Recharge’s AI-powered text messaging solution that supports your customers conveniently. Customers interact conversationally with Concierge to manage and update their subscriptions without having to contact your support team.

This guide provides step-by-step instructions to onboard Concierge SMS to your store.

Platform:

Shopify Checkout Integration
Migrated Shopify Checkout Integration

Before you start

Review the Concierge SMS (Powered by AI) article to understand how this feature works.

Set up Concierge SMS

After you complete the Concierge SMS request form and meet with the sales team, you may see a guided onboarding flow to create key SMS notification flows. After completing this flow (if shown), follow the setup steps below to finish setting up Concierge SMS.. If you need to pause, click Mark as done & continue to resume where you left off.

Step 1 - Review your fallback escalation email

Enter an escalation email to handle customer requests that require a human support agent.

Step 2 - Review your notification send window

Choose when Concierge sends SMS notifications before the customer’s upcoming charge. Select a value between 3 and 7 days.

Step 3 - Review your customer portal settings

Select where Concierge SMS directs customers to complete portal actions. By default, My Recharge standard customer portal is selected. This includes Affinity, Novum, Prima, and Theme Engine.

If you use a custom customer portal, select My custom customer portal and enter your portal URL. Concierge includes this link when it prompts customers to take action in the customer portal.

If you don’t set up a custom customer portal URL during Concierge SMS onboarding, you’ll need to contact the Recharge support team to have this updated later. You cannot update a custom portal URL once Concierge SMS has been set up.

Step 4 - Create an SMS Terms section to add to your Terms of Service

To use SMS features, add SMS-specific language to your Terms of Service. This step helps you generate the required section:

Enter your store’s legal entity name in the Company name field.
Enter your existing privacy policy URL in the Privacy Policy URL field.
Enter your existing Terms of Service URL in the Terms of Service URL field.
Click Copy to clipboard and paste the SMS Terms language into your existing Terms of Service.
Select the checkbox to acknowledge that Recharge does not provide legal advice by offering this language.

Step 5 - Update your checkout settings for compliance

Update your Shopify checkout settings to comply with Recharge’s SMS provider:

In your Shopify checkout settings, scroll to the Customer information section. Ensure the Shipping address phone number is set to Optional.
Scroll to Marketing opt-in and ensure that SMS is set to Checkout only then click Save.
Scroll to Checkout language and click Edit checkout content.
Press Control/Command + F and search for Optional phone label. You may have to scroll down on this page for it to appear under the Checkout contact section.
Locate the Optional phone label field and update the text to: (Optional) Enter mobile # for order & shipping text updates. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.
Click Save and verify the update on your checkout page.

Step 6 - Request a toll-free number

Submit a verification request to start sending SMS messages from a toll-free number. The form auto-fills with your store information, which you can edit as needed.

You must provide a real, contactable human at your company to verify your toll-free number request. The following must belong to someone at your company who can respond to verification requests:

First name
Last name
Contact email
Contact phone number

Do not use fake names, placeholder emails, or invalid phone numbers. Submissions with inaccurate or unreachable contact information will be rejected, which can delay your Concierge SMS onboarding.

Ensure all fields are complete and accurate. The Request your toll-free number button activates only after you complete all required fields.

If your number is already verified or pending verification, a banner displays your current status.

Step 7 - Use the guided onboarding flow

If you started setting up Concierge SMS on or after May 11, 2026 you will see a guided onboarding flow to quickly create key SMS notification flows.

After you submit the Concierge SMS request form and complete your initial verification, Recharge directs you to a flow template selection screen instead of a blank setup experience. A banner displays your toll-free number verification status throughout this process.

On this screen, you can choose which SMS flows to create for your store.

Available flow templates:

All four options are selected by default. You can deselect any flows you don’t want to create. When you're ready, click Create flows.

Before creating the flows, a confirmation modal displays the selected flows for review.

After confirmation:

The flows are created automatically in your merchant portal
All flows are set to inactive by default
You can activate them after your toll-free number is verified

After creating your flows, follow the steps below to finish setup.

Optional - Enable Gorgias integration

If your team uses Gorgias for customer support, you can integrate Concierge SMS to streamline your workflow.

Note: When the Gorgias integration is enabled, escalation emails are not sent and instead the system automatically creates a ticket in Gorgias. This ticket includes the customer’s email address and context about the escalation, so your support team has the necessary information to respond quickly.

Integrate Gorgias with Concierge SMS directly in your merchant portal:

Open the merchant portal, click the Tools & Apps dropdown, and select Installed apps.
Make sure the Gorgias app appears in the list. If not, go to the App marketplace and install the Gorgias app.
Click the SMS dropdown in the Recharge merchant portal and select Concierge.
Open the Settings tab.
In the Customer escalation section, enter the support escalation email. If the integration fails, Concierge SMS automatically sends the escalation details to this email. Use a general support email address here.
Select the checkbox next to Gorgias.
Provide the Gorgias API URL, username, and API key. Refer to Gorgias API Credentials if you need help finding them.
Click Save to apply your changes.

Next steps

After onboarding, your toll-free number must be verified. This process usually takes 1–3 weeks. Once verified, you’ll see confirmation on your Concierge SMS Settings page.

If your number is already verified, a Recharge team member contacts you with your enablement date.

In the meantime, visit the Concierge Overview page to review common questions and learn what to expect as you go live with Concierge SMS.

Review your SMS templates

While your toll-free number is being verified, review the SMS templates Concierge uses to communicate with your customers. These messages are sent automatically at key points in the customer journey, so it’s important to understand the experience and ensure it aligns with your brand voice and support strategy.

Refer to the following articles for details on each template:

Considerations

Consider the following when using Concierge SMS:

Consideration	Note
Billing by segment	You are billed for Concierge SMS based on the number of SMS segments sent. A segment is a block of up to 160 characters. Longer messages are split into multiple segments, and you are billed for each segment rather than for the full message. 1–160 characters = 1 segment 161–306 characters = 2 segments 307–459 characters = 3 segments For example, a message with 328 characters is split into three segments.
Customer portals	Concierge SMS works with all customer portal options.
Bundles	Recharge Bundles are partially supported. Customers can use SMS to skip an order or change their charge date for bundle subscriptions. Concierge SMS sends the customer a link to manage their subscription in the customer portal for more complex actions, such as swapping bundle items or customizing contents.
Stores located outside of the US or Canada	Concierge SMS sends messages only from the US or Canada to customers in those countries. International customers and merchants can't use Concierge SMS at this stage.
Multi-language	Concierge SMS is only available in English at this time. You cannot translate messages that Concierge SMS sends or receives.
Prepaid subscriptions	Prepaid subscriptions are partially supported with RechargeSMS. Customers can use SMS to adjust their charge dates, but shipment dates cannot be modified via SMS. If customers need to make changes to the prepaid cycle or contents, Concierge SMS provides a link to manage the subscription directly in the customer portal.
Unsubscribing	Customers can reply STOP to unsubscribe from both marketing and transactional messages. Customers can opt out of marketing messages by replying “no” to the marketing prompt in-message, but they will still receive transactional messages.
Time zones	Recharge sends messages between 8 AM and 8:30 PM in the customer’s local time zone, based on their phone number’s area code.
Phone numbers	Customers without a +1 phone number (US/Canada) on file will not receive messages from Concierge SMS. Phone numbers must be unique across customers in your store. See What happens if a customer signs up for multiple accounts with different emails but the same phone number? for more information.

Resources

Review the following Concierge SMS resources:

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