Discussion about weak growth

At the trade congress for DIY, Household & Garden Centres Retail 2014 held in Moscow, 650 participants from 13 countries discussed how one could be successful in a market where growth is relatively weak. Indeed 2013 was the year where the weakest growth rates were recorded in the Russian DIY sector since 2005. Only Leroy Merlin Russia was able to manage a 30 per cent increase. The managing director, Vincent Gentil presented his company’s successful concept in depth. This included, amongst other things, the stable relationship to Russian suppliers, whose delivery volumes had to keep pace with a yearly 30 to 40 percent growth level. Approximately 25 per cent of the product range was renewed on an annual basis. By the end of this year, Leroy Merlin’s own brands will make up twelve per cent of the Russian turnover, Gentil announced.
At the summit meeting, Obi’s boss in Russia Ian Strickland, went into great detail about the success factors – staff and company culture in his presentation. Obi Russia attaches great importance to teamwork, intangible motivation, trust, communication, training and development, he said. The company profits annually from the employee integration with high growth rates. Obviously the efforts of the DIY store operator are similarly assessed in the trade: Obi was honoured with the DIY & Household Award 2014 for best customer service at the summit at the end of May.