Pages Unturned
Magazine.co.uk is the UK’s leading independent magazine subscription website, offering a wide range of print and digital subscriptions to hundreds of magazines and newspapers at discounted prices. They also sell gift subscriptions and gift cards, provide options for bulk orders for businesses and institutions, and feature a blog with news and offers. Despite their comprehensive digital presence and competitive pricing, they faced challenges with abandoned baskets representing substantial lost revenue, with customers browsing subscriptions but failing to complete transactions. Their digital-only remarketing strategies weren’t effectively recovering these high-intent prospects who had shown clear interest in magazine subscriptions but needed additional encouragement to complete their purchase.
Fresh Off the Press
Magazine.co.uk partnered with Paperplanes to launch programmatic direct mail on 11th December 2024, targeting two abandoned basket cohorts: customers who abandoned within 24 hours and those who hadn’t returned after 7 days. The campaign deployed 444 A4 mailers in C5 envelopes with dynamic led content and branding across front and back, integrated via Paperplanes script implementation. Each mailing was personalised to show the specific magazines left in basket, with customers limited to one mailing every 30 days to avoid over-saturation whilst maintaining consistent engagement across the subscription consideration period.
Bestseller Results
The campaign delivered impressive results from July to September 2025, with mailed customers converting at a 38.81% higher rate than non-mailed cohorts, achieving a 9.68% overall conversion rate and generating £1,500 in total sales with an average basket value of £35. The abandoned basket 24-hour segment performed particularly well, converting at a 58.82% higher rate than controls with just a £9 CPA. The campaign achieved an exceptional £3.97 return for every £1 invested, whilst comparison to JICMail industry benchmarks revealed Magazine.co.uk’s direct mail performance was 265.28% higher than industry standard response rates and delivered 186.67% higher total order values, demonstrating that personalised direct mail significantly outperforms traditional addressed mail approaches in the magazine and newspaper publisher sector.
