Roomii – Marketplace platform for finding and comparing tradespeople

The client & summary

Roomii is a German online marketplace that connects private customers and businesses with local tradespeople and service providers, from architects and real estate agents to construction, interior and outdoor specialists. The core objective was a working platform where people can find, compare and contact professionals near them, and where businesses pay for a subscription to be listed.

The challenge

The platform had to combine two models in one product: classified-style local search and a service-provider directory with reviews and direct communication. That meant two user types with different rights, contact details that are only visible after login, radius search by postal code, business profiles with company data, recurring payments for business plans, and GDPR compliance, all in German and English with room for more languages.

Our solution

Our team designed and developed the platform over about four months, from the brief in December 2025 to the last go-live fixes in April 2026.

Build first, then design

We started with the WordPress backend before any visual design: account types, registration rules, business profile fields and an admin area for activating users. Emails and messaging came next, followed by two dashboards. Businesses see how often they appeared in search, how often they were clicked, their messages and reviews. Private users see their messages, the reviews they left and their favourites.

Design

The design was oriented on established German trade directories. Search works like a short funnel: category first, then location and radius, with a separate archive for browsing without the funnel. Businesses get their own entry point in the header, and the interface was tuned so private users see fewer options than business accounts.

Revisions

Five feedback rounds shaped the platform. Login moved from a pop-up to dedicated pages for buyers and sellers, vendors now receive onboarding emails after registration, the radius filter sits at the top of the search, and the categories were consolidated into four main groups: real estate and architects, outdoor facilities, construction and interior work, and furnishings. The contact page was simplified to a single form with a private/business switch.

Testing and launch

At the end of March 2026 the platform moved from our sandbox to a managed WordPress staging environment, where our team optimised caching and performance, completed the SEO setup and tested emails, user flows and payments end to end before switching roomii.de live. The last go-live fixes were closed in April 2026.

Challenges we solved

The hardest part was the permission model: two user types with different features, plus the question of what happens when a private user wants to become a business. Keeping search simple for people who know exactly what they need, and for those who do not, took several iterations.

Technology stack

• WordPress
• Elementor Pro
• WooCommerce and WooCommerce Subscriptions for business plans
• Stripe and PayPal at checkout
• Custom marketplace functionality: account types, dashboards, messaging and reviews
• Loco Translate for the German interface
• Rank Math (SEO)
• Complianz (cookie consent)

Results

• About four months from brief (December 2025) to launch on roomii.de, with final go-live fixes closed in April 2026.
• Two account types, private and business, each with its own dashboard.
• Search by category, location and radius, with four main category groups and a direct entry point for businesses.
• Business subscriptions with automatic renewal and online payment.
• German and English versions, prepared for more languages.
• The Roomii team can now review and activate accounts in an admin area, and businesses can manage their own profiles and listings.

Frequently asked questions