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M ister Hilkert, please explain to us the concept of Roomtailors!
Roomtailors assists buyers free of charge in furnishing. Out of a portfolio con-
taining over 500,000 pieces of furniture, we suggest to our clients products which
they can order online from one of our partner shops. In the process, we take the per-
sonal taste into account, the dimensions of rooms as well as individual wishes and
the existing furniture. In return, we receive a commission from our partners. The
client does not have to pay a single cent extra.

r The business idea was developed by your partners, the media specialist Tobias
Lange and the economist Clemens Hildebrand. How was the idea for this start
up born? How did the other two approach the issue and when did you, as un
interior designer, come on board?
Clemens and Tobias had met during a trainee programme at Daimler. They agreed
that a career in a corporation would not bring major satisfaction and then thought
about an idea to go into business for themselves as successfully as possible. Among
numerous approaches, Roomtailors was identified as the idea most promising suc-
cess. They quickly realized that they also needed a “creative mind” with an under-
standing of furnishing. After several attempts, they found me and managed to make
me enthusiastic about their idea. From the beginning, the testing of the service with
actual clients was in the foreground. Thanks to their feed-back, the service was
continuously further developed. Initially and for several years we worked on it paral-
lel to our jobs, in the evenings and at weekends. Starting in January, we all deliber-
ately left our jobs and are now promoting our idea full time. Today, our team consists
of ten people.
Das weltweit
r Roomtailors communicates with its clients online via internet. Technically and
regarding the trend towards online-shopping, the start up Roomtailors is thus a
child of its time. Which are the advantages for the client compared with visiting a
traditional furniture store? »grünste«
There is a shift of the furniture market towards the online channel which is driven by
the clients’ expectations and habits. In other sectors, this change has already
advanced considerably more. Particularly in the furniture segment, the dealers face
the challenge of appropriately presenting their range online since furniture is a busi- Vinylboden-
ness requires much consulting. We offer the dealers a platform for this purpose; we
undertake the online consulting for them and individually stage their products for the
respective client. Our service works thanks to data assisting us in precisely under-
standing the client’s residential situation and wishes. Among this data are the layout,
photos and dimensions of the apartment, the existing furniture, the floor and so on. Sortiment.
The user is able to comfortably provide this information from home, exactly where it
is found. The client can thus avoid first printing out all the information, then taking
it along to the furniture store and maybe supply forgotten information later.
Dass Debolon als weltweit erster Hersteller bereits
r In which form do you offer furnishing suggestions to your client?
Whoever wants to do so can click through a small, entertaining questionnaire. With seit 2012 auf den Einsatz von Phthalaten verzichtet,
the help of images and a mood board, the clients are able to state their preferences wissen Sie vermutlich schon.
and let us know individual wishes and questions. Based on this, our clients receive
an individual “furnishing check” with first product suggestions and furnishing advice. Aber es gibt noch mehr Gründe, die Vinylböden
Right after this and based on the layout and the existing furniture, our clients may aus Dessau zu einer ökologischen Wahl machen:
request a specific design suggestion for one or several rooms. Upon request, we ressourcen schonend produziert, besonders langlebig,
briefly talk on the phone. Then the client receives a digital suggestion for several
product alternatives which can be ordered directly. Including changes! mit den geringsten Emissionswerten und vollständig
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r You are the Deputy Chairman of BDIA Baden-Württemberg. How did your inte-
rior designer colleagues react to your business idea? And do you personally see unserer Premium-Vinylböden. Mehr über nachhaltige
potential for interior designers in the digitization of services? XQG NRQVHTXHQWH /¸VXQJHQ DXV 'HVVDX HUIDKUHQ 6LH
My colleagues keep encourage me by saying that we have found the right niche with auf: www.debolon.de
Roomtailors. Even though we are not offering classic interior-design services but fur-
nishing consultancy and work for a target group who quite definitely are not ready to
pay money for such services, our idea is nevertheless a stimulus for many colleagues.
That is because, for interior designers as well, digitization is a great opportunity and
perhaps one or another of the colleagues will think about taking a similar route and
thus open up a business field for herself or himself. We are democratizing furnishing
consultancy for the general public and creating awareness of design services in peo-
ple who previously never thought of making use of consultancy. This is a completely
new service concept.