CONFERENCE REPORT G TURE


THE NEW MODERN LEAVING THE PAST TO LIVE THE FUTURE


The Keynote speaker was Sergio Giroldi, CEO of German retail chain OBI, who talked about ‘the new modern’, telling delegates “either we change and start moving ahead to the future or we get stuck in the past and put out of business.” He clarified his point: “We need to look at the past


in order to budget. We try to align the past to plan our future but that is not going to be a viable tool anymore. The tool now for us to see the future is imagination. There is no way to continue being proud of the past or enjoying our successes. This is a clear revolution and the speed is dramatically different.” Mr Giroldi discussed the disruptions to “the essence” of retail businesses, saying that the notion of location, location, location is gone and that retailers need to assess their proposition. “We have been fighting to get the best, biggest


stores in the best locations. Now what do we do with these square metres? That location has moved to online. You need to be trading 365 days a year, 24/7. You’re expected to be a one-stop shop and people are calling for non-stop buying. They want to be served every time, everywhere and they want to pay however they like, no questions asked.” He explained that pure-tech businesses like Amazon


are taking market share from OBI, adding that a year from now he expects the online retail giant to be the undisputable market leader in Germany. “There is no way of changing that unless we change the business,” he conceded. In order to combat this, Mr Giroldi believes retailers need to start to re-invent and re-design a new business model. “Different means not only based on digital technology,” he explained. “Revolution today is a given, there is no way to escape and technology is changing the game much faster than expected. We are moving from the click generation to the voice-activated generation. You do not collect information, you are asking for advice, support and interacting with a digital human being – a paradox I know but it is the way the future will go.”


He quoted the statistic that 80% of companies believe they deliver outstanding value and a superior customer experience, while just 8% of their customers agree. “We need to move toward being a customer-centric organisation and move our customers to fans. We do that by improving the level of service we offer, which is what they want.” He addressed the next generation of home


improvement customer and how they are changing the face of retail. “The millennials are different,” he said. “They want to belong to stuff – to a larger group but they are willing to share everything. They will, step by step, configure a new future. We have to talk to the future generation, not think about our past.


“They might want a new, modern bathroom but they don’t know how to build it and simply don’t care how to build it. They want their bathroom and their wish fulfilled just by clicking. To serve them, our business model needs to be substantially different.” However, despite the fast-paced digital


progression, Mr Giroldi explained, “there is a clear limit on the technology” and he firmly believes the importance of the human role in retail should not be overlooked or underplayed even in this modern era. “We are a business by people for people. The human component will continue on our business and society and this gives us hope for the future.” He added that no one person has the answer “in his pocket about how modern DIY retailing will look,” and believes the future business model for retailers can be imagined. At this point Mir Giroldi presented a video to delegates of his vision of the future which centered around a retailer that inspires and focuses on community, creating together and enabling dreams. “We want to help realise customer wishes,” he said. Advising the retailers attending, he concluded: “We need to imagine what we don’t know. Don’t look back, try to imagine forward.”


Next issue we will bring you a report on the digital section of the conference and those speakers looking in more detail at the disruptors to the industry.


www.diyweek.net 11 AUGUST 2017 DIY WEEK 13


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