The Pyjama Store’s James Riggs discusses website migration, outsourcing, and brand (episode 009)

James Riggs is the founder of online only eCommerce business The Pyjama Store. A business which scours the globe for the best nightwear brands, hand picking those they love for their tailoring, quality, design and sumptuous fabrics.
The Pyjama Store was launched in 2010 selling purely men’s pyjamas, and 18 months later (due to customer demand) moved into ladies pyjamas. With the recent addition of Children’s pyjamas to the range they are now stockists of 25 pyjama brands.
Click to tweet: James Riggs of The Pyjama Store explains the importance of a strong brand for #eCommerce success
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About the business
- eCommerce Business Structure – Online Only
- Product Range Scale – niche
- Platform progress:
- Started – EKMPowershop
- Now – Open Cart
- Migrating to – Magento
- Model of outsourcing, it’s James PLUS:
- Marketing team
- Magento team = MyFutureCloud
- Based in the UK, sell globally – 90% of sales are within the UK, overseas orders have 50% higher AOV
- Key widgets in the website:
- Trust Pilot – for reviews
- Hootsuite – for social media scheduling
Tips to find the right people to outsource to
- Meet them face to face at least once to really see them
- References are critical
Most Awesome Thing Right Now
It’s fun!
Rebranded to put fun at the heart of the brand, and now so many ideas of how to have fun with the business. It’s great to work in.
On the Radar for the Coming Months
- Migration to Magento
- Always improving the product:
- 2 new brand coming on board shortly
- And working on a new own-brand range
eCommerce Book Top Tip
- eCommerce MasterPlan 1.8: Your 3 Steps to Successful Online Selling by Chloë Thomas
- It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be by Paul Arden
eCommerce Traffic Top Tip
- Email marketing – get the email, then have a conversation with them
Tool Top Tip
- Mobile Phone – and using it to make phone calls, and speak to people
Start Up Top Tip
- Don’t buy too much stock to start with – buy in accordance with the momentum of the business
- Get an accountant
If your business didn’t exist, which eCommerce Business Would you like to be Running?
- Notonthehighstreet.com – great concept and user experience