Case Study · AI for Ecommerce
A content system that runs the marketing for a Lake Tahoe tea brand
Tica and Mike run Tahoe Teas as a family. I built the software that turns one idea into an email, a blog post, an Instagram post, and a text, with Tica approving every word.
- Client
- Tahoe Teas, Ecommerce
- Role
- Design + AI Engineering
- Engagement
- 2026 to present
Where it started
From one email flow to the whole calendar
It started in May 2026 as a Klaviyo replacement for one welcome flow. By June it was writing all four channels every week.
The loop
Idea in, published content out, then it learns
01
Ideas, ranked
It reads the calendar, the season, open keywords, and what sold, then ranks what to write next.
02
One click drafts every channel
Email, blog post, caption, and text, each written for its own channel.
03
A quality gate before anyone sees it
Drafts compete, and a brand voice check scores every piece 0 to 100.
04
The owner approves from her phone
One link, no login. Nothing goes out without her yes.
05
Publish, then learn
Opens, clicks, and Shopify revenue feed the next round of ideas.
One idea → four channels
Welcome flow + broadcasts
SEO articles
Image posts
Short, timely
SMS is waiting on carrier approval. Instagram is images only; reels are still posted by hand.
Why it can be trusted
Nothing publishes without a person saying yes
Grounded in their own writing
New copy is built from copy they already approved.
A person decides, every time
Tica approves each channel. There's no skip button.
Honest about what it can't do yet
SMS awaits carrier approval. Facebook is left out on purpose.
Wired into the store
Discount codes tie Shopify revenue back to the post that earned it.
What changed for them
A two-person shop that publishes like a team
Tica opens a ranked list, drafts the week in one click, and approves it from her phone. The voice holds across all four channels.
The math
What building it in-house saves
$4,400/yr
Subscriptions replaced
~12 hrs/mo
Owner time reclaimed
~$10,100/yr
Estimated total savings
Only replaced tools and reclaimed hours. No revenue claims I can't back up.
How I countedAI writer $468, Buffer $180, blog retainer $3,600, Canva $120 per year. Time: 12 hrs/mo at $40/hr.
Built with
- Next.js 16
- React 19
- Tailwind v4
- Drizzle + Neon (pgvector)
- Resend
- Shopify Admin GraphQL
- Instagram Graph API
- Twilio
- Notion
- Vercel Blob + Cron
- AI SDK v6 + AI Gateway
- Claude Opus 4.6 + Haiku 4.5