Nicolas Sclippa, Co-founder of Comptoir du Bambou, has set up a process of innovation, both technical and marketing, to design household linen with the best raw materials, woven in state-of-the-art manufacturing workshops, and distributed without intermediaries to guarantee the best quality at the best price.
What is the mission of Comptoir du Bambou?
At Comptoir du Bambou, our mission is to offer more practical, better designed and more ecological household linen. By cutting out the middlemen, we want to make essential products for sleeping and bathing, beautiful and comfortable, available to as many people as possible at the right price. Our ambition? To offer you the best comfort experience.
How important is innovation to you?
Innovation is at the heart of Comptoir du Bambou's development, because we have the ambition to become a reference lifestyle brand and for that, we try to innovate in everything we do.
Innovation starts with the products we develop: we have developed Fibre B. to create a unique material made of bamboo with valuable properties. From the 1500 species of bamboo, we have selected the best. Our transformation process is then totally controlled, 70% of the bamboo is used to design our products, the remaining 30% is composted.
Fibre B. is the result of a clever mix of the best kind of bamboo species and the Egyptian cotton. Today, it allows us to create virtuous linen that meets our customers' requirements: products that are easier to care for and exceptionally comfortable.
Nowadays Comptoir du Bambou is being used by the world's finest hotels for its innovative linen that improves their business, while realizing operational efficiencies and enhancing their customer experience. Our professional linen is designed to be more durable, more comfortable, more practical and more ecological.
Innovation is not only about technology. We also want to improve our sales processes, whether it is in the relationship we have with our customers professionals or for the sales path individuals via our e-commerce site. Indeed, Comptoir du Bambou controls the entire value chain of our products: from the harvesting of the bamboo to the delivery.
How do you innovate in concrete terms?
In each innovation, we start from the customer's demand and their problems. We invent with consumers and test. In concrete terms, when we developed the Fibre B, We started from the fact that most of the professional linen for hotels, spas and beauty salons is made of cotton, a cheap material that wears out quickly, becomes rough and is energy consuming. If we had developed cotton towels, there would have been no perceived value, and it would have taken us a long time to establish ourselves. The development of Fibre B., allows the linen to have a life span 3 times longer, it does not become rough, consumes 4 times less resources than a cotton towel... It is a virtuous and sustainable product. Innovation has enabled us to accelerate our development. Indeed, in one year Comptoir du Bambou has equipped more than 100 establishments around the world. Something that would never have been possible with a simple cotton towel.
For all product launches, the specifications remain the same: to propose a "market killer", i.e. an essential and not an accessory product, which will revolutionise its market and become obvious in the coming years. We also pay attention to the ecological footprint of our activity.
How can you be disruptive and shake up the codes of household linen?
At Comptoir du Bambou, we take the opposite approach to the linen market: put our customer at the centre of the experience, by developing products that are ultra-comfortable, soft, silky, and easy to care for. The experience should be as pleasant and incredible as possible. Our products are all made from a unique fibre, and contribute in style to the well-being of our customers and the protection of the planet.
We apply our values:
- We offer affordable high-end products
- Every customer is important. We treat our customers the same all year round without promotion
- Product quality is at the heart of production
- We want to accompany our professional clients, hotels and spas in the development of their business to constantly improve the customer experience
What state of mind to adopt and what qualities to mobilise to succeed in such an innovative project?
Challenging the status quo in the linen market has allowed us to innovate and develop incredible products.
The trust of our customers and the enthusiasm we have put into developing the brand and our products has enabled us to create these innovations. We have shown reactivity and agility in adapting to unforeseen events. All of this must be accompanied by a strong requirement to leave nothing to chance and refuse to compromise.
