NEWS EXTRA NEWS EXTR END THE


ingfisher introduced its new brand to the press last week at Olympia creating


London, a walkthrough NEWS EXTR


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B&Q and SCrewfix parent, Kingfisher launched its new international brand, GoodHome, last week. The company has said it aims to create an omni-channel experience that will surpass the likes of rivals Amazon and ManoMano. Kiran Grew al reports.


NIGHTMARE K


“We started three years ago, and we have undertaken in-depth r esear ch to get knowledge on home improvement and customer needs. By doing this, we found out that people are improving their homes with the same purpose – they want a home that is good to live in,” said Vé onique Laury,, CEO of Kiy, CEO of Kingfisher. year


experience of the ‘nightmare’ home full of unfinished DIY projects, eventually leading to the showcase of its GoodHome venture, alongside the services and products offered within the brand. We


Vér


Ms Laury said that, each year out of five home improver


r,, four ’s cancel


at least one intended project, which could be a “lack of inspiration, too much complexity, not enough skill,y,, not enou time or money,” and thesey,,” and these barriers often leave customer’s feeling like “home improvement can be a nightmare”. Ms Laury said: “the heart of our purpose, everything that we have been doing for the last few years, and we continue to do, is about fixing the nightmar e.”


With the home improvement industry worth £90billion pound just in the UK, France and Poland, Kingfisher feel this lucrative market was in need of revamping, and adapting to the changing nature of consumer behaviour and shopping. Ms Laury explained the vision: “The secret reason why we see a huge potential is because the market has not really evolved in the past 20 years to adapt to customer’s new ways of shopping. Current market players offer th e home improver and the helpers a limited format and a multichannel experience, not an omni-channel experience. The


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biggest change has been the arrival of new players like Amazon and ManoMano. So far , no market playerr,, is offering an end-to-end seamless home improvement experience. No one has solved the nightmare. Customers want to improve their homes but they need more help To help them we


getting there. To o


built our business, website, stores an experience around the way the customer actually thinks.”


Quick and convenient


The business is also trialling new GoodHome store concepts, including an express format. Kingfisher has said this convenience store will provide a new way to shop for the most frequent home improvement projects, as well as an effortless digital


shopping experience, and


inspiration and advice from a team of skilled colleagues.


The first UK site has now opened in Wallington, with more express store trials to open in the UK and France later this year. Showing press around a concept of an express store, spokesperson said:


Wa allington, wit a Kingfisher


“Basically we designed [this store format] based on customers’ needs. Firstly , we have those customers thaty,, we have tho know exactly what they want: they want to get in, they want to get out and they want to do that very quickly and conveniently


niently today, ally, y..”


“Featuring here are over 6,000 products available to take away sitting behind the counter .


Those 6,000 products repr esent 120 most frequent home improvement issues that our customers undertake, and they are helping them to get their products on a daily basis. But, not only do we have those 6,000 products, we also have access to another 25,000, which are available for next day click and collect to come into the store, or indeed for home delivery as well. You come


Yo


customers can come in, take a seat and even have a cup of coffee if they’d like


ff to. They can br owse


thr ough all of the content and tools that are available to help them with their project.


into the store, go up to the desk, and your order will be ready within five minutes of having placed it. Wherever you are – whether you’re on the bus, at home on the sofa, it doesn’t matter; your order is going to be ready


y. y.”


The express order system in GoodHome allows the customer to search for a product, product name or product category and with a few clicks you can build your basket as you would online. “Because of the system we are using, we will have every order picked within around two minutes of it being placed, so that means for customers its quick and efficient,” he said.


“What we also recognise is that home improvement is really difficult, even the simplest tasks like painting a wall – there’s a lot in there, there’s preparation, finishing, painting and maintenance. Customer’s don’t often feel completely confident in this, and whilst we have an amazing amount of content to share online, sometimes they need a little bit more help – which is why we have introduced a Project Help section.” GoodHome will also offer a slower browsing experience, where


“But even more importantly” he says, “those customers can ha ve a conversati on with one of our colleagues.” Kingfisher says it is focusing on its colleagues spending time face-to-face with customers and having engaging conversations. “Our colleagues that we have employed in GoodHome are enthusiastic and curious, and they want to know what it is our customers are trying to solve.”


GoodHome will also feature an express trade counter We ecognise that for trade, it’s really important to be in and out very quickly, so wey,, so have a separate trade area, where they will have their own ordering stations, and they’ll be able to come in, place their order very quickly and get out. Trade also want tond get out. Trade also want feel a little bit special, and that we are recognising how important they actually are. Our home improvement customers we could see them a couple of times a week, but our trade customers we could see a couple of times a day. Our colleagues will bey.. Our colleagues will getting to know our trade customers by name, to enhance the relationship between colleague and customer.” From May 2019, GoodHome products and services will be available online and


r.. “We r o be in and out very quickly Tr mes a day in B&Q,


Castorama and Brico Dépôt stores throughout the UK, France, Poland and Romania.


24 MAY 2019 DIY WEEK 7

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