Case Study · Mission-Driven Publisher · Shopify D2C AiTrillion × SureShot Books How SureShot Books Grew Recommendation Revenue by 57% and Scaled Web Push by 364% Year-on-Year A mission-driven publisher serving incarcerated readers across the US used AiTrillion's product recommendations engine, workflow automation, and web push notifications to drive consistent order growth and deepen customer engagement across two consecutive years. +57% Recommendation Revenue YoY +364% Web Push Sent YoY 2× Recently Viewed Orders SureShot Books — Books Have the Power to Change Lives · D2C · Shopify About SureShot Books Books Have the Power to Change Lives Founded in 1990 in Nyack, New York, SureShot Books Publishing LLC was built around a mission that is as clear today as it was at the start: connecting incarcerated individuals with books, newspapers, and magazines that give them the opportunity to learn, grow, and reduce the likelihood of returning to prison. Operating as part of the SureShot 2K family of companies, SureShot Books serves the families of prison inmates across the United States, providing a reliable, respectful service for ordering books and publications to be delivered directly to correctional facilities. Their catalogue spans fiction, non-fiction, thrillers, self-help, puzzle books, coloring books, and original publications from their own imprint. SureShot Books operates through its Shopify-powered store, serving thousands of orders annually across all 50 states. With a customer base made up primarily of family members purchasing on behalf of incarcerated loved ones, trust, reliability, and a seamless ordering experience are central to everything the brand does. 📅Founded 1990 in Nyack, New York — over three decades of mission-driven service 🇺🇸Serves families of incarcerated individuals across all 50 US states 📚Curated catalogue spanning fiction, non-fiction, self-help, puzzle and coloring books, plus original publications 🏢Part of the SureShot 2K family of companies — mission-focused portfolio 🎯Books delivered directly to correctional facilities — reliable, respectful, family-first The Challenge Turning a Purpose-Driven Purchase Into a Repeat Relationship When someone orders a book for an incarcerated family member, the decision is driven by care. The opportunity is to make sure that when they need to send the next book, SureShot Books is the first place they think of. SureShot Books had a large and growing customer base and a wide catalogue. The challenge was helping customers discover more of what the catalogue offered and staying engaged with them between orders through channels that felt helpful rather than intrusive. The Core Question How do you help a customer who is buying books for someone they love discover more of what they need, and remember to come back? A wide catalogue with limited discovery: customers often ordered the same few titles without knowing what else was available No systematic way to re-engage customers between purchases or prompt the next order at the right moment Web push as a channel was underutilised relative to the subscriber base available The Solution Recommendations, Automation & Push Working Together SureShot Books activated four AiTrillion channels: product recommendations, workflow automation, web push notifications, and abandoned cart recovery. Together these channels ensure that every visit surfaces relevant products, every lapsed customer gets a timely nudge, and every subscriber can be reached directly when a new title or promotion is live. 1 Channel 01 · Product Recommendations The Standout Growth Channel Product recommendations are SureShot Books' highest-performing AiTrillion channel by revenue contribution, accounting for the majority of AiTrillion-assisted revenue in both years. Recommendation revenue grew over 57% year-on-year, with orders growing nearly 55%. The most striking individual metric is the recently viewed recommendations engine: orders from recently viewed products more than doubled year-on-year, and revenue from this surface grew nearly 98%. A customer browsing for a thriller for their brother may not realise SureShot Books also carries the self-help title their father has been asking for. Recommendations surface those adjacent purchases at exactly the right moment. +57% revenue YoY · +98% recently viewed revenue 2 Channel 02 · Web Push Notifications From Modest to Meaningful Web push is one of the clearest growth stories in SureShot Books' year-on-year data. Pushes sent grew nearly 364% year-on-year, driven by a 42% increase in subscribers. Web push revenue grew nearly 48% in line. For a brand serving customers who may only order once every few weeks, web push provides a direct, permission-based channel to stay visible between orders. A new title alert, a seasonal promotion, or a reminder about a previously viewed product reaches subscribers instantly, outside of email and social, at a moment when they may be ready to place their next order. +364% pushes sent · +48% web push revenue 3 Channel 03 · Workflow Automation Consistent Orders, Consistent Volume AiTrillion's workflow automation sent over 70,000 targeted emails and more than 3,000 web push notifications in year two alone, generating consistent orders with zero manual effort per campaign. Workflow web push volume grew over 160% year-on-year, reflecting an automation setup that is scaling effectively. Automation handles the moments that matter between purchases: a welcome sequence for a new customer, a re-engagement email for someone who has not ordered in a while, a follow-up after a first purchase. For a brand where customers are making emotionally significant purchases, a well-timed message from the brand they trust carries particular weight. 70,000+ emails · 3,000+ push · +160% workflow push YoY 4 Channel 04 · Abandoned Cart Recovery Catching Orders Before They Are Lost SureShot Books' abandoned cart recovery emails maintain open rates consistently above 50% across both years, well above the retail average. For a customer who has already selected a book for a loved one and then left without completing the purchase, a timely recovery email with a warm, purposeful tone is often enough to bring them back. 50%+ open rate · Above retail average across both years Year-on-Year Results A Retention System That Compounds 📖 +57% Product Recommendation RevenueYear-on-Year Growth 🔔 +364% Web Push SentYear-on-Year Growth 🔄 2× Recently Viewed OrdersYear-on-Year Growth Every Channel, Every Metric Moving Up Product Recommendation Revenue The highest-performing AiTrillion channel — majority of assisted revenue in both years. +57% Product Recommendation Orders Recommendations converting browsers into buyers at growing scale. +55% Recently Viewed Orders More than doubled — customers returning to complete considered purchases. 2× Personalised Recommendation Revenue Personalised picks based on browsing history driving repeat purchase behaviour. +40% Web Push Sent Explosive growth as web push scaled from an underutilised channel to a growth driver. +364% Web Push Subscribers Growing permission-based audience the brand can reach outside email and social. +40% Web Push Revenue Revenue impact tracking closely with the growth in subscribers and volume. +48% Workflow Web Push Triggered push notifications scaling in line with subscriber base growth. +160% Workflow Orders Maintained consistent order volume year-on-year with automation carrying the load. Consistent Abandoned Cart Open Rate Consistently above 50% across both years — well above retail category average. 50%+ How It Works Recommendations & Email Journeys, Working in Sync SureShot Books' retention system pairs a discovery layer that surfaces the depth of the catalogue at the moment of highest intent, with an email journey system that keeps the brand present throughout the customer relationship — from first visit to next order. Touchpoint 01 · Product Recommendations Recommended Reads That Keep the Journey Going Every product page surfaces "Customers who bought this also bought" carousels — introducing shoppers browsing a football preview magazine to related sports content, and shoppers browsing self-help to complementary titles they might not have found otherwise. Add-to-cart buttons on every recommended title turn discovery directly into basket action. The system knows what has been viewed, what has been bought, and what pairs well. Why it works: Product recommendations are SureShot Books' highest-performing channel by revenue contribution — with recommendation revenue growing 57% and recently viewed revenue growing 98% year-on-year. In a catalogue with thousands of titles, that discovery layer is what turns a single-title visit into a full-basket order. Touchpoint 02 · Automated Email Journeys Email Journeys That Keep Support Moving SureShot Books runs a three-stage email journey system through AiTrillion's workflow automation. New shoppers receive a warm welcome email framing the mission. Product recommendation emails surface bestsellers so customers see what else the catalogue offers. Win-back emails — branded as "Prison Book Club, We Miss You" — bring back lapsed shoppers with a purposeful "Here's what you left behind" surface featuring the exact titles they browsed but didn't complete. Why it works: Over 70,000 targeted emails and 3,000+ web push notifications were sent through workflow automation in year two alone — generating consistent orders with zero manual effort per campaign. For a brand where customers are making emotionally significant purchases for loved ones, a well-timed, warm message from the brand they trust carries particular weight. What SureShot Books Gets Right 3 Retention Principles Worth Stealing 01 They surface the catalogue, not just the bestsellers A book retailer with thousands of titles has a discovery problem. Most customers only ever see a fraction of what is available. Product recommendations solve this at scale — surfacing titles based on what a customer has viewed, what others in similar situations are ordering, and what is new. The more than doubling of recently viewed orders year-on-year reflects customers returning to complete purchases they had already started. 02 They built a direct channel that compounds A 364% growth in web push notifications sent is the result of a subscriber base that grew 42% and a push strategy that became more active in year two. Web push is a channel that rewards consistency: the more often customers receive relevant, well-timed notifications, the more the channel becomes part of how they shop. SureShot Books is building that habit. 03 They automate the relationship, not just the transaction Workflow automation at over 70,000 emails and 3,000+ web push notifications in a single year reflects a system that is maintaining consistent contact with customers throughout the year, not just at the point of purchase. For a brand where customers are motivated by care for a loved one, staying present and relevant between purchases is what earns the next order. Built to Repeat "The mission is best served by a business that can reliably reach, engage, and retain." SureShot Books' results show what happens when a purpose-driven brand invests in the infrastructure to stay connected with its customers. Product recommendations grow the basket. Web push grows the reach. Workflow automation maintains the relationship. Abandoned cart recovery catches what would otherwise be lost. Over 57% growth in recommendation revenue. A 364% increase in web push volume. Consistent workflow orders across both years. These are not the results of a single campaign. They are the compound effect of a retention system that gets better with every passing month. AiTrillion brings product recommendations, web push, workflow automation, and abandoned cart recovery into one Shopify-native platform with no complicated integrations and a single view of every customer's journey. Ready to build a retention engine like SureShot Books? 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