ONLINE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED GREETING CARD GENERATION AND MAILING

A system and method are described for automatically generating and mailing greeting cards on behalf of the end user. For example, one embodiment of a method for automatically generating and sending a greeting card comprises: collecting from a user of an online card service an identity of recipients and/or recipient groups to receive automated card mailings; collecting triggering event data specifying one or more triggering events upon detection of which, a greeting card is to be automatically generated and mailed to the recipients and/or recipient groups; collecting card template and personalization data specifying card templates to be associated with the various recipients, recipient groups and/or triggering events, and personalized messages to be used for each of the various recipients, recipient groups and/or triggering events, detecting a triggering event indicating that a greeting card is to be automatically generated and mailed on behalf of the end user; automatically generating a greeting card order by combining the card template with the personalized message and sending the resulting card order to a print service, wherein the print service automatically prints and mails the greeting card to the recipients and/or group of recipients on behalf of the end user.