How PYRA Turned Headwear into 25% of Revenue
PYRA sits between technical outdoor performance and modern streetwear: shell jackets, trail running gear and premium headwear, built with the design sensibility of someone who spent years inside fashion rather than a sporting goods catalogue.
When Sam Moore bought the brand back from AKA Brands and Culture Kings, he had to rebuild the customer base from scratch. All prior sales had run through the Culture Kings platform, so no customer data transferred. He went from 80% wholesale to nearly 90% direct-to-consumer in two years.
What emerged as the entry product was headwear. Hats now make up about 25% of PYRA’s revenue. High margin, no size risk, and a two-for-$100 bundle that keeps AOV healthy. But the customer insight Sam noticed is the part worth paying attention to.
“If this person is buying for the first time a hat, it’s like an entry to the brand. I do this as well when I’m shopping and I really like a brand I’ll quite often buy the hat first and then I’ll be like, oh, I might buy the tee, I might buy the jacket.”
Choose the Hero Product on Purpose. Most Brands Stumble into It by Accident.
The cautionary version: when Adam Bouris at Who Is Elijah mapped lifetime value back to first product purchased, his Discovery Set buyers had the lowest LTV of any customer segment. More price-sensitive, less brand loyal, and far less likely to come back. He pulled back on discounting the sample and shifted acquisition toward full-price products that required more commitment.
The deliberate version: Lauren French spent years running brand-level acquisition at Motto Fashions without moving the needle. After committing to a single product, a body-sculpting pant chosen on specific criteria accessible price point, broad appeal, neutral colourway, and a natural path to the next purchase the business grew 127% in twelve months.
The test worth running on your own hero product: does the customer it brings in have an obvious next step?
The Gap Between Purchase One and Purchase Two Is Where Most Brands Lose the Customer.
Getting someone to buy the first time is hard. Getting them to buy again is where the real economics of DTC play out.
Jennifer Gilbert at Nutra Organics puts a number on it: most brands’ customer databases are around 70% first-time buyers, because the jump from one purchase to two is so hard. Her approach is to treat the delivery of that first order as the most important marketing moment in the relationship — get the final mile right, then give value before you ask for anything.
Sam’s approach is to time product drops to what the hat buyer is likely into. A shell jacket in a new colourway. A trail running capsule. Something that extends the world the customer entered through that first purchase.
“We have 40% core, 40% core variation, and then 20% brand movers. Those 20% brand movers are new styles, completely new, that we’ll order low units in just to keep the brand moving forward.”
If the flows stall, a plain text founder email with a conditional offer, “I’m the founder of PYRA, here’s what we’ve just launched, here’s $50 off a $150 order,” is usually what finally converts.
If the Hero Product Only Gets Bought Once, Build the Ecosystem Around It.
Not every entry product creates a natural repeat purchase. Some hero products are so good they last for years. There are two ways to solve for that.
The first is consumables. Laura Klein built Snotty Noses around the Snotty Boss Nasal Aspirator, a device parents buy once and use for a couple of years. Rather than accepting that as a ceiling, she surrounded it with essential oils, balms and wellness add-ons that kept the same customer coming back.
The second is lock-in. Rob Ward built Quad Lock around a single mount system, then built an ecosystem where each addition makes the whole more valuable. Fifty percent of customers acquired in 2017 were still customers years later not because of discounts or loyalty points, but because leaving meant starting over.
The principle is the same. The hero product earns trust and gets the right customer through the door. What surrounds it builds the business.
The Takeaway
Most brands know what’s converting. Fewer know whether that’s building anything lasting. The questions worth asking: have you chosen your hero product deliberately? Does the customer it brings in have a clear next step? And if it only gets bought once, what’s the plan?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a hero product in ecommerce? A hero product is the primary entry point to your brand for new customers, typically the product driving your highest acquisition volume. The key distinction is that your hero product and your best-converting product are not always the same thing. A hero product should bring in customers with a clear and logical next purchase, not just customers who are easy to convert once.
How do you choose the right hero product as an entry point? Map lifetime value back to first product purchased, not just conversion rate. The product that performs best on paid media isn’t always the one that brings in your best customers. Look for an accessible price point, broad demographic appeal, and a natural path to a second purchase. If the customer who buys your hero product has no obvious next step, that’s a signal worth acting on.
How do you get ecommerce customers to buy a second time? Treat the delivery of the first order as a marketing moment, then give value before you ask for anything. A product drop calendar timed to what the first-time buyer is likely into, supported by a segmented Klaviyo flow, does most of the work. If automated flows stall, a plain text founder email with a conditional offer is often what finally converts.
What is a product ecosystem in ecommerce? A product ecosystem is a range of complementary products built around a hero product to extend lifetime value when the hero itself is bought infrequently. Snotty Noses built consumable oils and balms around a nasal aspirator parents buy once. Quad Lock built accessories that make each addition more valuable than the last. In both cases, the hero product earns trust and the ecosystem earns the revenue.
Based on Episode 625 of the Add To Cart podcast with Sam Moore, founder of PYRA. Join the Add To Cart community for free.
In this Playbook:
- Choosing your hero product deliberately, not defaulting to whatever’s performing
- Engineering the move from first purchase to second before the customer goes cold
- Building a product ecosystem around a hero product that only gets bought once
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