From 1795 to Shopify: Building a £12M eCommerce Toy Brand, with Joe Jaques

Joe Jaques is the CEO at Jaques of London, inventors of croquet, ping pong and chess as we know them, and championing play as the foundation of learning. Founded in 1795 (yes over 200 years ago) Joe is the 8th generation toymaker to lead this family business, winning multiple awards in recent years. Now selling via their Shopify site and Amazon they are on track for £12million this year.

In this episode, Joe shares how he transformed a centuries-old games company into a modern eCommerce brand. He talks about pivoting into educational toys, building a highly data-driven marketing strategy, and navigating the challenges of rapid growth, financial restructuring, and rebuilding the business stronger than before.

Hit PLAY to hear:

• 🚀 How an 8th-generation family business reinvented itself as a £12M eCommerce brand
• 📊 Why obsessing over your data is the key to surviving rising CAC and scaling profitably
• 🧸 The surprising strategy behind pivoting from classic games to educational toys for under-5s
• 📦 How running their own warehouse in China gives Jakes of London a huge quality advantage
• 💥 The behind-the-scenes story of their COVID boom, debt crisis, and business rebuild
• 🤖 How Joe uses AI and data tools to uncover hidden eCommerce growth opportunities

Key timestamps to dive straight in:

[06:09] "Educational Play for Early Childhood"

[08:07] In-House Operations and Control

[13:04] Rooted Values and Solid Growth

[14:57] "Facing Collapse After Growth"

[18:11] "Navigating Challenges with Support"

[22:22] "AI for Data Analysis"

[24:19] "In-House Creative and Personas"

[25:47] Listen to Joe’s Top Tips!

Full episode notes here: https://ecmp.info/590

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