Tim Ehling, CEO of Pickawood GmbH, shares an update on progress since launching in the UK as well as why they’re an innovator in the custom-made furniture field.
Earlier this year, an online retailer of custom-made furniture announced its official expansion into the UK market following a successful pilot. Pickawood is the name and helping customers design and create their unique furniture is the game. In fact, Tim Ehling, CEO of Pickawood GmbH, says their 3D configurator model is a game-changer in the bespoke market.
“We are excited to bring Pickawood to the UK and offer our customers the opportunity to create their own unique furniture pieces. We believe that everyone deserves to own furniture that is both functional and beautiful, and we are committed to providing the highest quality craftsmanship and personalised service to every customer through our online platform.”
So, who are Pickawood and how does the platform work?
The company was founded in 2012 in Hamburg, Germany, as an ecommerce brand for custom-made furniture. The business employs around 50 staff and has since its incorporation expanded to Austria, Switzerland and France, with more countries like the UK in the pipeline. “The brand stands for high quality and custom-made solutions,” Tim said. “Pickawood has established itself as an Innovator in the custom-made furniture industry, with a team of skilled craftsmen and designers who are dedicated to providing exceptional service to every customer. All manufacturing is done within Europe and all wood comes from sustainable forests. We are well known for our best-in-class furniture configurator.”
The company’s expansion into the UK market is a testament to its “commitment to quality and innovation”, as Tim says, with their platform poised to become a “major player in the UK furniture market”. The UK has been chosen as a market of interest with the business launching a test run, alongside setting up and fine-tuning the logistics process. This test ran during 2022 and saw a strong uptrend in orders, prompting the official launch in May of this year.
“We waited for Brexit to understand what we will need to do in order to ship our products to the UK (after Brexit),” Tim said. “It took us around six months to set up the logistics process and tweak all the details until we were ready. We invested a six-figure sum in order to set up our website, service team and logistics process for the UK.”
Tim added that they have partnered with a local delivery provider as well as local assembly partners that help get the product delivered and assembled for their customers, while hinting at how big an opportunity they see the UK market. “In Europe we are selling a lot of plywood furniture that has a Scandinavian look, in the UK most customers take one of our massive wood options. We see an enormous potential in the UK market for our custom-made furniture. Especially as the market for custom or fitted furniture is quite far developed but no other competitor has a similar ecommerce setup like we do.
“As an ecommerce company, we are testing different retail strategies at the moment in Germany to find the right solution to become a multi-channel brand. However, we are confident that we will reach over a million pounds in revenue this year in the UK and will then adjust our strategy accordingly.”
Alongside the UK launch, Pickawood has also entered the Italian market as well as in the Netherlands and Belgium too. Furthermore, the business has completed the acquisitions of German furniture brands Holzconnection and Paschen. “We have ambitious plans here at Pickawood and the initial response to our full UK launch has been great,” Tim concluded. “We continue to grow and we look forward to what the future holds.”
