A failure to address online retail may be seen as one of the reasons that Bunnings spectacularly failed in the UK and Ireland, but the broader global DIY industry remains dubious about the shift from bricks and mortar to online, according to this year’s delegates at the Global DIY Summit.
21% of the total delegates said that online sales shares in DIY in five years will be less than 10%. Almost 26% of the audience predicted a range between 10% and 15%. Even more interesting is that 16% of the delegates forecast more than 25%.
Delegates expected their business development for this year compared to last year, 19% of them think very optimistic as they estimate it will be better than 10%. Around 37% of the audience was more cautious as they only forecasted a growth between 0% and 4%. Approximately 22 % of the suppliers think they will grow more than 10% compared to last year, while 15% of the retailers forecast the same growth.
A record of 1,100 delegates from 55 countries attended the 6th Global DIY Summit in Barcelona, including over 300 of retailers from around the world.
Using the voting tool, 60% of delegates rated the event as 'very good' to 'excellent' with a further 28% rating the event as 'good'.
The audience was predominantly composed of men (74%). This year over 30% of the whole audience were retailers, a huge increase compared to the congress held in Berlin last year. Suppliers are still the largest share among the different type of attendees: approximately 59% of the delegates were manufacturers. Event organisers, consultant firms and others made up 12% of the total.
The next Global DIY Summit will be held in Dublin from 6 to 7 June 2019. Over 46% of the delegates already confirmed their participation in next year’s Summit.
DIY NEXT – Reinventing our Industry
This year’s motto was “DIY NEXT – Reinventing our industry”. Speakers gave presentations on digital platforms as new business models worldwide, the political and economic forecasts, how a company should start its own digital transformation, a new kind of cooperation between suppliers and retailers and a global overview of home improvement stores around the world.
The general perception of global economy was positive and most of the speakers forecast more innovation and growth within the next years, according to the organisers.
On the first day, Alejandro González (Deloitte) presented a Global Economic and Political Overview and highlighted the risks and advantages within the era of Trump Presidency, Brexit and other challenges worldwide. The high expectations for the presentation of the Head of Strategic Business Development of The Home Depot, Matt Schweickert, were fulfilled with his impressive keynote “Home Improvement in the Age of Retail Disruption”. The presentations from Jörn Küpper (McKinsey & Co.), Martin Wild (MediaMarktSaturn) and Steven van Belleghem (Expert in Customer Focus in a Digital World) were highlights of the first day, along with the Panel Discussion, moderated by Steve Collinge (Insight Retail Group), where personalities from the industry (Verónique Laury [Kingfisher], Jeff Lavers [3M], Sylvain Prud’homme [Lowe’s], Henning von Boxberg [Robert Bosch]) exchanged views on a new kind of cooperation between retailers and suppliers.
The second day saw presentations on new global consumer trends and digitalisation including the keynote from Peter Hinssen (nexxworks). According to the audience, one of the highlights of the whole Summit was the CEO of WD40, Garry Ridge, who motivated delegates with his presentation “It’s all about the People”.
Like every year, facts and figures on new growth markets from around the globe were presented by international companies such as Euromonitor, Leroy Merlin and Test Rite Group.
This year’s farewell speech was held by Christian Raisson, Co-Founder from ManoMano, a leading marketplace specialised in home improvement products.
In the final wrap-up, both Chairmen of the Global DIY Summit, John W. Herbert (EDRA/GHIN) and Ralf Rahmede (fediyma) agreed that this had been a most interesting, informative and successful event having had a very positive feedback.
The General Manager of the Global DIY Summit, Iñaki Maillard, said: “This was by far the most successful Global DIY Summit ever. We have welcomed delegates from 55 countries from every continent around the world. The feedback from sponsors and participants has been very positive. I think everyone is very much looking forward to Dublin.”
The first day culminated with the highlight of the event: the Gala Dinner & the Global DIYLifetime Award held at MNAC, Barcelona.
This year’s 6th Global DIY-Lifetime Award 2018 went to Damien Deleplanque, former CEO at ADEO. This International award was presented by the European DIY Retail Association (EDRA), the European Federation of DIY Manufacturers (fediyma) and the Global Home Improvement Network.
In his emotional acceptance speech, Damien told the delegates about the importance of following your own dreams and how satisfied he was to leave ADEO as the most successful European home improvement retail store.
