Omnisend Updates Signup Forms, Search Abandonment and SMS Controls

In October 2026, Omnisend introduced updates to subscriber acquisition, marketing automation, and campaign measurement. The changes cover multi-step signup forms, the new Search Abandonment workflow for Shopify, SMS delivery schedules, and rules for attributing sales to email campaigns.

The company also expanded A/B testing, segmentation, and reporting capabilities. Omnisend summarized the releases in its October product update published on October 24, 2026.

Signup Forms Now Support Four Steps and Cart-Based Targeting

Omnisend expanded its Signup Forms from two steps to as many as four. A merchant can collect information progressively, asking for an email address first, followed by a phone number, preferences, or other details.

The feature first appeared in September and was included in the October update overview. Dividing the form across several screens gives marketers more flexibility in collecting information without presenting every field at once.

For Shopify stores, form display rules can now use cart value, item quantity, or a combination of both. A retailer might offer a different subscription incentive to a visitor with a high-value cart than to someone with a smaller order.

Embedded forms also gained additional targeting conditions based on the page, visitor, and traffic source. These include URLs, geography, and UTM parameters. The objective is to tailor signup prompts to visitor context rather than show the same offer to every shopper.

Form Experiments Gain Flexible Stop Conditions and Personalized Timers

Omnisend updated A/B testing for signup forms. Marketers can specify when an experiment should stop: after reaching statistical significance, on a selected date, or when either condition is met. Tests can also be paused without being canceled.

Countdown timers now support a visitor-specific offer window. Instead of ending at one fixed time for everyone, the countdown can begin when an individual visitor first sees the offer. This supports personalized, time-limited promotions.

Omnisend also expanded its gamified forms with Mystery Box and Scratch Card elements. Shopify merchants can issue unique single-use discount codes directly through a signup form.

Search Abandonment Introduces a New Signal for Shopify Automation

One of the more significant changes is support for behavior in Shopify's on-site search. Omnisend added a Search submitted event that records a visitor's search query. Event properties can include the full query, individual terms, and information about the search results.

Marketers can use these properties to trigger automations, build segments, personalize messages, or configure Conditional Splits. The related Search Abandonment Automation preset is designed to re-engage someone who searched a store but did not continue toward a purchase.

The preset uses a two-hour inactivity window. It also contains exit conditions for later actions, including viewing a product, adding an item to the cart, starting checkout, or placing an order.

For example, a visitor might search for a product category and then leave the store. If that shopper can be identified and contacted, the store could send an email linking to the relevant search results or alternative products.

An anonymous search alone does not make a visitor reachable. Automation eligibility depends on contact identification, available behavioral data, and the appropriate communication permissions. Search Abandonment complements existing Browse, Product, and Cart Abandonment flows by capturing an earlier expression of purchase intent.

Birthday Automations Can Start at the Beginning of the Month

Omnisend introduced an additional birthday trigger: an automation can start on the first day of a contact's birthday month rather than on the birthday itself.

That gives merchants time to promote a monthly gift, discount, or personalized offer, especially when product selection and shipping may take several days.

The company also continued developing AI Recommendations for marketing automations. Suggested scenarios can include repeat purchases, reactivation, and search abandonment. Marketers can review proposed workflows before applying them.

SMS Quiet Hours Can Be Configured Separately for Each Weekday

Omnisend now lets merchants set different SMS Quiet Hours for individual days of the week. For example, a retailer can establish one allowed sending window on weekdays and a different schedule on weekends.

The restrictions use the recipient's time zone. If a message is scheduled during a quiet period, Omnisend postpones delivery until the next permitted window.

Frequency restrictions remain separate from quiet-hour settings. The platform's stated defaults include up to three marketing SMS messages per recipient per day and quiet hours from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.

Carrier requirements and local laws may impose stricter conditions. Being able to customize Quiet Hours does not authorize sending messages at times that would otherwise be prohibited.

Apple Mail Privacy Protection Opens Can Be Excluded From Sales Attribution

Omnisend added an option to exclude Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) opens from order and revenue attribution. Apple's privacy infrastructure can load email content without a recipient actively opening the message, so an open event is not always evidence of engagement.

When those events are used as attribution signals, a campaign may be credited with sales that were not preceded by a verified human open. The new setting lets marketers decide whether MPP-related opens contribute to reported orders and revenue.

Changing the rule can cause Omnisend to recalculate the corresponding results. This helps teams understand how their measurement method affects reported performance.

The change does not mean Omnisend can reliably determine which Apple MPP opens came from human activity. It changes the attribution rule, not the underlying visibility into individual opens.

Reports Gain Comparisons With Previous and Custom Periods

Omnisend expanded period comparisons in its sales, campaign, and automation reports and in its analytics overview. Users can compare results with the immediately preceding equivalent period, the corresponding period last year, or a custom date range.

Year-over-year comparisons are particularly useful for retailers whose sales depend on seasonal demand. Comparing a holiday campaign only with the preceding week can provide a misleading picture of performance.

Along with the Apple MPP attribution option, the reporting changes help marketers interpret movements in email- and SMS-associated revenue more carefully. Attributed sales are not the same as incremental sales; a controlled test is still needed to assess the additional commercial effect of a campaign.

Omnisend Brings Acquisition, Lifecycle Messaging, and Measurement Together

Omnisend is a direct marketing automation platform focused primarily on ecommerce. It combines email, SMS, web push notifications, signup forms, customer segmentation, and behavior-triggered workflows.

The platform integrates with Shopify and other ecommerce systems, using customer, product, and order information to personalize communications.

Its October updates address several stages of the customer lifecycle. More flexible forms help brands collect subscriber information. Search Abandonment provides an earlier signal of shopper interest. Day-specific SMS scheduling gives teams more control over delivery times. Attribution and reporting changes improve visibility into the numbers used to evaluate campaigns.

These additions reinforce Omnisend's focus on automating customer communications using shopper behavior and commerce data, while leaving marketers responsible for consent, data quality, and validating the actual business impact.