DIGITAL INNOVATIONS BUILDING THE HOME IMPROVEMENT JOURNEY

WRITTEN BY: MARCUS LAW

PRODUCED BY: KRISTOPHER PALMER

While many retailers struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, the home improvement sector went through something of a boom.

According to research, COVID19 restrictions drove 86% of home improvement projects in the UK in March 2020, as people were forced to stay in their homes, while figures from Kingfisher covering the year to the end of January 2021 reported that overall web sales grew 158% year on year, to account for 18% of total group sales - more than double the 8% share pre-pandemic.

An international home improvement company with approximately 1,500 stores and over 80,000 colleagues, Kingfisher operates in eight countries across Europe under well-known retail banners including B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt, Screwfix, TradePoint and Koçtaş.

“We really help customers to improve their homes,” explains JJ Van Oosten, Kingfisher’s former Chief Digital and Technology Officer, who previously led Kingfisher’s e-commerce and marketplace functions, along with its data and technology teams.

“We help DIYers and tradespeople to get their job done quickly, accurately, and in an affordable way,” he adds. “We do this across all of our network of stores and different formats and brands.

“We also have a range of our own-label products, which account for 45% of Group sales, with brands like Mac Allister, Titan, Flomasta, Good Home and many others. These brands are very specific, very precious, and customers love them.”

How Kingfisher is changing

The way retailers do business is everevolving, with innovations proving key to ensuring customer satisfaction.

In 2021, one of Kingfisher’s brands, Screwfix, launched its rapid delivery service called Screwfix Sprint, capable of delivering orders direct to consumers within one hour. And, last year, B&Q launched its online home improvement marketplace, offering a ‘one-stop shop’ for home improvement products, with the aim of driving the retailer’s digital growth.

As Van Oosten explains, from a technology standpoint, there have been a number of changes in how the business operates in recent years.

“Being much closer to customers, we now have a lot more pace in what we do,” he explains. “We are far more agile in what we're doing. We're embracing ecommerce and data in a way that was not manageable many years ago.”

Jj Van Oosten

TITLE: FOUNDER

COMPANY: DIGITAL RETAIL

TRANSFORMATION LIMITED

LOCATION: UNITED KINGDOM