Taking smart home improvement by the horns!

Even though the question, as to whether the DIY and garden centre industry show innovative spirit and capability, has already been asked on numerous occasions: It's still a decisive one in my opinion. I also think there are still too many unsatisfactory answers, in particular when one queries how the industry is planning to align its product range design to meet current and future trends. A hitherto sobering example from the product range design sector is the subject of Smart Home. One doesn't get the impression that the home improvement retailers are really setting their sights on the cutting edge when it comes to the marketing of this future technology.Of course, some efforts are being made. In France, for example, where people are generally more open to new technology than the cliché of the tradition-loving French would allow us to believe, the two leading chains Leroy Merlin and Castorama are showing a certain pioneering spirit and setting up special departments ("Les objects connectés" - connected devices - or "la maison connectée" - connected homes). Jumbo in Switzerland has introduced the appropriate shelving modules in some stores. In Germany, Globus has set up its first "connected homes shop".

On the other side of the Atlantic Lowe's, the second largest DIY chain in the USA and the world, is testing a shop-in-shop system for Smart Home products - although in only three of its more than 2 355 stores.These are all interesting starting points - but by no means bold. However, someone who is showing some courage in this department is Leonard Diepenbrock. At the Global DIY Summit 2015 in London, the CEO of the German manufacturer Tox stood up on stage and made fun of the hesitancy (not to say: ignorance) of the industry, whose purchasers, back at that time, hadn't got a clue about the topic of Smart Home.One year later, at the Summit in Stockholm, he realised with bitter irony that nothing much has changed, at least not in the DIY stores. The future of the industry, which is always a favourite discussion point at the conferences, could do with a bit of a jump- start when it comes to innovative spirit and particularly with the product assortment.Of course, it's a complicated matter. Very complicated in fact, because…