Cooperate or die

"Innovate or die" is one theme of the 7th Global DIY Summit in Dublin in June. It doesn't sound a really original theme at first glance: ask anyone in the industry for their recipe for success, and they will assure you that innovation is an imperative, and it must happen on an ongoing basis. But why, then, isn't everyone successful?Because innovation has to be understood in a wider sense, even in the retail trade. It is not enough potentially to tinker with retail area concepts, shelf modules or marketing. Above all, it's not enough to siphon off innovations from the industry for one's own brand.On the contrary, innovation in a wider sense means adopting a new approach. This consists in the sector considering a redefinition of the term "competition". Retailer A's actual competitor is not retailer B; it is more the case that retailer A and retailer B have competitors in common. The industry is starting to think more about cooperation. New notes are being heard. "The sector is closing ranks," declared Peter Wüst, CEO of the German DIY retail association BHB, for example, after its latest conference.Cooperation is necessary. That was made clear in the inaugural address of newly elected Edra president Sergio Giroldi, CEO of Obi, in Berlin two years ago when he evoked the threat posed by Amazon. Two years on from this, the industry has advanced to the extent that it no longer shies away from contact with the purely online world in its own number and has received marketplace operator ManoMano into Edra.

This will probably not be enough, however, to innovate its self-image as a retailer, because the basic economic conditions are worsening. The International Monetary Fund IMF has just revised its growth forecasts for the next couple of years downwards.A sphere that is still largely untouched is cooperation with regard to logistics and master data management, for example. If projects of this magnitude are to be financially justifiable, they are only feasible as a joint sector-wide solution.The topic being discussed most in Europe at the moment, namely drifting apart - consider Brexit and other independent national initiatives - can certainly not be a model for a sector like the home improvement industry, which aims to…