Tan Lines Fading
He-Shi is a premium self-tanning brand operating across the UK and Ireland, known for their professional-quality tanning products. Despite strong brand recognition and a loyal customer base, they faced challenges with abandoned baskets and re-engaging customers who hadn’t purchased recently, whilst also seeking opportunities to introduce their engaged customer base to their full product range, particularly their Milk product line. Their digital-only remarketing strategies weren’t effectively recovering these lost opportunities or driving strategic product introduction in markets where beauty consumers are increasingly selective about the digital communications they engage with.
Glow Up Strategy
Paperplanes implemented a comprehensive direct mail strategy across both UK and Irish markets, targeting abandoned baskets within 24 hours of cart abandonment to capture high-intent customers whilst interest remained strong. Additionally, a strategic Milk Bulk mailer was developed targeting highly engaged customers (3+ purchases) who had never tried the Milk product range, creating a cross-sell opportunity to increase product penetration. Each campaign was carefully tailored to market-specific preferences whilst maintaining He-Shi’s premium brand positioning, with distinct creative approaches designed to resonate with UK and Irish audiences.
Flawless Finish
The campaign delivered exceptional results with mailed customers converting at a 77.78% higher rate than non-mailed cohorts and demonstrating 70.65% higher average basket values. The abandoned basket campaign showed remarkable month-on-month improvement, with conversions increasing by 122.40% from May to June 2025 and average basket values rising by 40.74%, whilst website return rates increased by 79.98% during the same period. The Milk Bulk mailer successfully introduced engaged customers to new products, achieving an 11.11% higher conversion rate and an impressive 83.79% higher average basket value, demonstrating direct mail’s effectiveness in both recovery and strategic product introduction across the entire customer lifecycle.
