The company partnered with Usablenet to help develop its latest mobile effort.  My Event is an interactive platform that provides brides-to-be with tools they need to plan, organize, share and track all activities from their engagement till their wedding day.

“David’s Bridal has been focused on its mobile commerce strategy, working with Usablenet to provide its customers with a best-in-class bridal shopping experience on-the-go,” said Carin van Vuuren, chief marketing officer of Usablenet.

“With My Event for mobile, David’s Bridal evolved its mobile strategy by developing an enhanced experience for mobile that appeals to today’s digitally-connected bride,” she said. “My Event is designed to make it fun, easy, and stress-free for brides to continue to plan plan their dream day when mobile.

“My Event enables the bride to connect with her wedding party and other invited members in her private community, via the social methods that she is most accustomed. Usablenet’s agile technology platform made it possible for David’s Bridal integrate to extend the My Event experience from desktop to mobile with the added efficiency of enabling Facebook log-in.”

Mobile planning
Brides-to-be can access the David’s Bridal service via the “my account” log-in.

Using My Event, consumers can create a profile, create or view their event and participate in other events hosted by friends.

There are also social elements that let brides log-in through Facebook and invite their friends/bridal party to ensure everyone is connected and informed of important dates and upcoming appointments.

There is also a newsfeed that brides can use to view real-time updates and discussion of all wedding planning details, as well as upload new products and write a message to the wedding party.

Through My Event, brides can also create interactive shopping lists for themselves, their bridesmaids or others and keep track of everyone’s purchases.

Consumers can also create and share their mood boards and customize their task lists to stay on top of their wedding planning.

Moreover, My Event features a budget planner that lets brides stay connected to their budget plan and ensure milestone deadlines are met.

Brides can also shop on the David’s Bridal site, its affiliates and other online stores all from their mobile device.

Making the My Events feature mobile is a smart move for David’s Bridal.

Consumers are constantly turning to their mobile devices to shop. And, planning a wedding takes a lot of organization.

Optimizing different features and content helps streamline the entire process.

“With today’s explosive mobile growth, David’s Bridal recognized the fact that many of its customers were already doing their wedding research and planning straight from their mobile device, so they set out to create a mobile experience that would make the research and planning process even easier and more accessible. In doing so, the goal is to build on the engagement with the customer while she is planning this important event, ensuring that she feels in control of every aspect at all times,” Ms. van Vuuren said.

“The site makes it easy to complete and manage key tasks such as planning, budgeting, and communicating,” she said. 

Past efforts
David’s Bridal is no stranger to mobile.

Last year, the company rolled out a mobile site that let consumers browse and buy gowns while on the go.

The company also worked with Usablenet on the initiative. Consumers can access the mobile site by entering http://www.davidsbridal.com on their mobile device (see story).

“We set out to create a seamless mobile experience that allows busy brides to efficiently tackle all of their planning from anywhere, at anytime,” Ms. Runyon said.

“This year we are already seeing a huge shift among brands towards next-generation mobile sites. Customers want a mobile that is tailored to their specific interests and needs, and brands must create relevant mobile experiences that deliver context,” Ms. van Vuuren said.

“We’re going to see brands start incorporating in-store mobile payments, mobile-only discounts and promotions, and other next-gen mobile capabilities that will continue making it easier for consumers to browse, shop, explore, and make purchases,” she said.

“Furthermore, tablets will continue their rapid rate of adoption and as a result, we’ll see the increasing need for brands to create experiences that are contextually relevant and specific to the tablet channel, much like we saw with the smartphone.”

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York