Quick answer. Push notifications only reach loyalty members who installed your app and left notifications on; RCS reaches members in their native inbox with no app at all. Push is effectively free per message and great for re-engaging your most active app users, but its audience is capped by installs and opt-in rates, and notifications are easy to swipe away. RCS reaches the much larger group who will never install the app, carries richer interactive content, and persists in the inbox — at a per-message cost.
For loyalty specifically, the two are complementary: use push to nudge engaged app users at no marginal cost, and use RCS to reach and activate the majority of members who aren’t in the app. Most unredeemed rewards sit with members you can’t reach by push at all — which is exactly where RCS earns its keep.
Key facts
- Push reach is limited by app installs and notification opt-in; RCS reaches the native inbox regardless of app status.
- RCS persists in the conversation thread; push notifications are transient and easily dismissed.