The industry today. And in the future.

“New World Order: Redefining DIY for a Global Future” was the motto of the 11th Global DIY Summit. Nearly 1,000 participants from 55 countries, including more than 320 retailers, traveled to Lisbon and gathered at the MEO Arena. The motto alluded to the current turbulent times around the world. These were described in the opening video on stage, which highlighted the war in Ukraine, US President Donald Trump, climate change, natural disasters, political and economic turmoil, tariffs, the decline of the US dollar, and the risks posed by AI.

John W. Herbert addressed this in his opening speech, saying that he could not remember a time in his long life when the world had been in such turmoil, citing the wars in Europe and Gaza and the US, which was stepping back as a pillar of the free world. The 83-year-old managing director of the global DIY association Edra/Ghin launched the summit in 2010. From the outset, he has worked closely with the international manufacturers' association Hima (then known as Fediyma). This major event is organized by the joint subsidiary FEK under the leadership of Iñaki Maillard.

Herbert professed his enthusiasm for the possibilities of AI – and had much of his opening speech written by Chat GPT. He also announced with obvious delight that global market leader Home Depot was represented at the Global DIY Summit for the first time. Iñaki Maillard, General Manager of the Global DIY Summit, called on participants to make the congress a celebration of diversity, especially in these times marked by violence.

As in previous years, Thierry Garnier, Edra/Ghin President and CEO of Kingfisher, and Hima President Reinhard Wolff took to the stage together to kick off the summit. Wolff also addressed the current crises. Among other things, he mentioned climate change, the threat to global free trade, the dispute over raw materials, and wars. Rarely has a conference been more necessary, he said.

Climate change is also one of Thierry Garnier's major concerns – as is the “Make It Zero” initiative, through which the entire home improvement industry aims to reduce its Scope 3 emissions (see box and interview with Thierry Garnier in this issue).

As the first speaker of the day set the tone for the conference theme, he provided plenty of food for thought right from the start. Sony Kapoor, professor of geoeconomics, Climate and Finance, did not hold back in his criticism of the current US administration and emphasized the need for Europe to focus its international orientation more on China, India, and the Global South in order to usher in a “next golden age of globalization” – and less on the US and the “toxic macroeconomic dependence on our friends across the Atlantic.”. John Herbert then returned to the stage and emphasized: “They are still our friends.” We should not forget what we owe them in the free world.

The first day of the congress thus covered a wide range of topics, from aspects focused entirely on the industry to larger social issues. In his keynote speech introducing the industry topics, Graham Bell, CEO of British market leader B&Q, spoke about what he understands by “change”: the opportunity for “evolution.” Rik Vera, a regular speaker at the summit, explained how important curiosity is: “a superpower.” He is rather optimistic about the future of the DIY industry, because people – especially younger people – are looking for real experiences, for things they can still do themselves.

The next speaker came from a completely different industry: Formula 1 Managing Director Mark Gallagher reported on the transformation of this sports business, which has had to cope with repeated crises in the past: a ban on tobacco advertising, the financial crisis, COVID-19, and climate regulations – not to mention a formerly male-dominated target group and fan base, which has changed fundamentally. This has forced his industry to innovate technologically and the companies involved to diversify. One example: TV broadcasts of the 24 races worldwide are no longer coordinated on site, but via remote technology from a central studio in London.

The presentation by Francisco Torres from Sodimac, the home improvement division of the Chilean Falabella Group, was very practical and highly relevant to the industry. His topic is private labels. At Sodimac, they account for 32 percent of sales and 46 percent of margins. “Private labels create differentiation,” said Torres. Fans of Sodimac's private labels have a significantly higher shopping basket and ensure frequency in the markets. However, Torres admitted that retailers also need “the authority of established brands.” This sometimes creates tension, “just like in a marriage.”

Alexander Kremer told the international audience how a German gardening company first entered the garden center business and then developed its garden centers away from plant supermarkets and toward natural garden centers. This concept is “driven not by logistics, but by the heart.” It was developed in collaboration with students. Among other things, it stipulates that every location is different. But the focus is always on “plants and nature.” The DIY trade magazine has already reported on this in detail, most recently on the new location in Siegen.

Jamie Pitcairn from Ricardo brought summit participants up to date on Scope 3 and the “Make It Zero” initiative. He highlighted the urgency of this issue with a comparison: the industry's carbon emissions now amount to around 700 million tons per year – equivalent to Canada's emissions. The task force on the manufacturer side now has 27 members. To provide further support to retailers and manufacturers, a Scope 3 training academy is now being launched.

The closing session of the first day of the congress, entitled “From Boomers to Zoomers: Bridging the Generational Gap in DIY,” was led by Ken Hughes, a well-known speaker at the summit, and, for the first time, futurologist Magnus Lindkvist from Sweden. Both gave quite emotional presentations (and the Swede was barefoot, by the way). Hughes said that the industry talks too much about products. At its core, it's always about relationships. “Connection is absolutely everything.”

Lindkvist, a self-confessed nihilist, sent the audience into the evening with a rather pessimistic outlook – a view based primarily on his analysis of demographic trends. On the subject of home improvement, he said: “This industry isn't even in crisis mode yet. But it will be soon. Unfortunately.”

The second day of the conference was more industry-focused and explored two topics: online marketplaces and artificial intelligence. Stuart Goldsmith provided some humorous (and at the same time profound) light relief in between; after all, the man's job title is Climate Comedian.

Following an introduction by Ken Hughes, Bob Chermin and Duncan Simmonds from OCC, who have appeared on the Summit stage several times before, addressed the topic of online marketplaces in detail. They started with the observation that marketplaces in the DIY and garden category account for only 5 percent of global sales, which is far less than in other industries. They explained the challenges in four steps, analogous to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' “flywheel” theory: get enough customers to the site, convert customer frequency into enough transactions, monetize on both the buyer and seller sides, and ultimately generate growth through additional sellers.

And how does that work in practice? François Yared, Managing Director Marketplace at the French group, provided deep insights into the marketplace business at European DIY market leader Adeo. After all, Adeo has achieved marketplace sales of €900 million within five years. That is more than 80 percent of the group's total e-commerce sales. It offers 150 times more items than an average brick-and-mortar store. This opens up new categories, new trends, and innovative products, said Yared.

The topic of AI and DIY was introduced by Livia von Mitschke-Collande, Industry Leader Retail at Google Germany – and the only (!) woman to give a presentation. Sarah Trowse from PPG and Heidi Schulte-Beckhausen from Obi took part in a panel discussion on “Make It Zero,” and later Victoria Sibatorkina and Peter Hartmann, both from Henkel, gave practical examples of how AI can be integrated into work. Von Mitschke-Collande's message: “Search is not dead.” It will become even more relevant for Internet users in the future.

The rather disturbing thesis “AI will replace you” was put forward by Belgian Maarten Verschuere. This is probably the last summit “for which we have built our presentations ourselves,” was his humorous introduction. Nevertheless, he did not end on a pessimistic note – provided, that is, that one has an AI strategy. This could, for example, automate unpopular tasks or answer questions in predictive AI such as: “When will a customer start their DIY project?”

Before blind IT expert, athlete, and motivational speaker Heinrich Wagner from South Africa told his impressive life story and encouraged the audience to appreciate what they have, Paul Martin, also a frequent guest at the summit, gave a “Global Retail Outlook.” He identified seven drivers: productivity, politics, proposition, people, purpose, price, and proximity. His final advice: “You need to build the ability to do things in parallel, not sequentially. You need to be parallel in the future.”

As mentioned, a wide range of topics was covered. At the same time, sufficiently long breaks, the get-together on the evening before, and the gala dinner provided excellent opportunities for networking – something that the participants appreciated: more than 90 percent gave a rating of “good” or “excellent.”

The next summit will take place from June 16 to 18, 2026, in Amsterdam.