When My Wedding Reception Ideas began overhauling its e-commerce technology, one of its biggest imperatives was having tools that could bolster its e-mail marketing efforts, says Raymond Miller, owner and president of MWRI.

The retailer, which sells customizable products for weddings and receptions at MyWeddingReceptionIdeas.com, had been sending basic text e-mails to confirm orders, but it wanted to be able to send more dynamic messages that would draw people back to its web site.

The retailer worked with e-commerce technology provider GoECart to rebuild its e-commerce site. At the same time, it added order management tools the retailer could use to tie its e-mail messages with consumers’ on-site behaviors and purchases.

The process led the retailer to fill those e-mails with rich text and media, including product recommendations and Share With a Friend buttons.  It also added a slew of e-mail messages, such as ones designed to remind customers that they  abandoned a shopping cart.  

Since rolling out the targeted e-mail messages, both site traffic and the number of completed post-purchase product reviews have increased more than ten-fold, Miller says.

As the rest of the web site’s improvements followed, visitors also began spending more time browsing the site and their average order values increased by about 10%, he says.