One of the most fascinating conversations at the Global DIY-Summit wasn’t really about AI, marketplaces, retail media, or product data.
It was about value.
Because while nearly every retail conference today is filled with discussions about new technologies and emerging capabilities, the harder question is how any of those tools actually improve the customer experience. Technology is becoming increasingly accessible. AI capabilities are expanding rapidly. Marketplaces can be launched faster than ever. Yet competitive advantage remains difficult to create.
Speaking live from the Vusion Podcast Studio in Amsterdam, Castorama Poland Commercial Director Robert Wicha offered a perspective that cut through much of the industry’s excitement around innovation. His view was that technology is important, but technology alone doesn’t create value. Value is created when retailers use technology to help customers make better decisions, simplify complex projects, and build confidence throughout the shopping journey.
That philosophy surfaced repeatedly throughout a conversation that touched on marketplaces, retail media, AI, data quality, and the future of DIY retail.
A Marketplace Should Extend The Brand
Marketplaces have become one of retail’s most popular growth strategies, often driven by the promise of endless assortment expansion. More sellers lead to more products, which in theory creates more customer choice and more sales opportunities.
Castorama’s approach is noticeably different.
Rather than viewing the marketplace as a separate business or simply a mechanism for adding more SKUs, Wicha described it as a carefully curated extension of the Castorama brand. That distinction shapes how the company evaluates merchants, integrates marketplace products into the customer journey, and maintains consistency across channels.
For Castorama, the goal isn’t to offer everything. The goal is to offer the right things. Marketplace sellers operate under the umbrella of a brand that customers already trust, which means every product and every experience has the potential to either strengthen or weaken that relationship.
Wicha explained that customers don’t necessarily distinguish between first-party and third-party products when they are shopping. What they remember is whether the experience met their expectations. That makes trust one of the most important considerations in any marketplace strategy.
The result is a philosophy that prioritizes quality and relevance over scale for scale’s sake. Rather than chasing the largest possible marketplace, Castorama is focused on building one that feels like a natural extension of its existing customer promise.
Why Trust Matters More Than Ever
Trust was arguably the most consistent theme throughout the discussion.
In many retail categories, customers are making relatively simple purchasing decisions. DIY retail is different. Customers are often investing significant amounts of money into projects they may only undertake once. They may be comparing highly technical products, evaluating competing solutions, or attempting to solve problems they have never encountered before.
In those moments, confidence matters.
Customers need to believe that the information they’re receiving is accurate. They need confidence that the products they’re purchasing will solve their problem. They need reassurance that the retailer is helping them make the right decision rather than simply selling them something.
That reality influences everything from marketplace strategy to product content to customer service. Technology can support those experiences, but trust remains the foundation underneath them.
The stronger the trust, the easier it becomes for customers to move forward with a purchase. The weaker the trust, the more friction enters the shopping journey.
Retail Media Is About More Than Monetization
Retail media was another area where Wicha offered a perspective that felt refreshingly balanced.
Many conversations about retail media focus primarily on revenue. Retailers want to know how much advertising inventory they can sell, how quickly their networks can grow, and how much profit they can generate from supplier partnerships.
While those goals are certainly important, Wicha argued that retail media should create value for all participants in the ecosystem.
Customers should receive more relevant product discovery experiences. Suppliers should gain better opportunities to connect with shoppers who are actively researching products. Retailers should benefit from stronger partnerships and new revenue streams.
When those three outcomes align, retail media becomes significantly more powerful than a simple advertising business.
That perspective is especially relevant in home improvement retail, where customers often consume large amounts of content before making a purchase. Whether they’re researching a renovation, comparing tools, or planning a landscaping project, the information they encounter can play a major role in their decision-making process.
The most effective retail media strategies will likely be the ones that enhance that process rather than interrupt it.
Data Quality Is Becoming A Competitive Advantage
One of the most insightful parts of the conversation centered on a topic that rarely generates headlines: product data.
While AI dominated many of the conversations at the summit, Wicha repeatedly emphasized that the effectiveness of AI ultimately depends on the quality of the information feeding it. Retailers can invest heavily in advanced technologies, but those tools become significantly less effective if the underlying data is inconsistent, incomplete, or inaccurate.
As AI-powered shopping experiences continue to evolve, data quality is becoming increasingly important. Customers expect accurate comparisons. Search tools need structured information. Recommendation engines rely on detailed attributes. Future agentic commerce applications will depend even more heavily on clean, consistent data.
The challenge is that retail data is extraordinarily complex. Every product contains dozens or even hundreds of attributes. Suppliers provide information in different formats. Retailers add their own layers of merchandising content. Regulatory requirements vary by category and geography.
Managing all of that information at scale is difficult.
According to Wicha, the challenge isn’t necessarily gathering more data. It’s creating consistency across an increasingly fragmented ecosystem. The retailers that can solve that challenge will be better positioned to compete in a world where AI increasingly influences product discovery and purchase decisions.
The Hard Part Isn’t AI. It’s Everything Around AI.
One of the most interesting observations from the discussion was that many of retail’s AI challenges have less to do with the technology itself and more to do with the systems surrounding it.
AI models continue to improve at a remarkable pace. The tools are becoming more accessible, more capable, and easier to implement. But successful outcomes still depend on organizational discipline, data quality, process design, and execution.
Wicha highlighted how much coordination is required simply to ensure that information remains accurate and usable across thousands of products and supplier relationships. Before AI can create meaningful value, retailers need the operational foundations that allow those systems to function effectively.
That may not be the most exciting part of the AI story, but it is often the most important.
The companies that win with AI will likely be the companies that have spent years building strong data practices, consistent processes, and high-quality customer experiences. AI accelerates those advantages, but it doesn’t replace them.
DIY Retail Is Evolving Beyond Products
Another recurring theme throughout the conversation was the continued evolution of DIY retail itself.
Historically, retailers focused primarily on selling products. Today, customers increasingly expect much more than that. They want guidance, expertise, installation services, and support throughout the entire project lifecycle.
Wicha believes this shift will continue accelerating.
Customers aren’t simply looking for materials. They are looking for solutions. They want help understanding which products they need, how those products work together, and how to successfully complete the project they have in mind.
That creates opportunities for retailers to move beyond traditional merchandising and play a larger role in helping customers achieve their goals.
Technology can support that evolution through better content, personalization, and digital tools. But the ultimate objective remains helping customers make better decisions and complete projects successfully.
The product is only part of the experience.
The service surrounding it increasingly matters just as much.
Creating Consistency Across Every Touchpoint
As customer journeys become more fragmented, maintaining consistency becomes increasingly difficult.
Customers move seamlessly between websites, mobile devices, physical stores, marketplaces, content platforms, and service interactions. They don’t think in terms of channels. They simply expect the experience to work.
That expectation creates significant challenges for retailers.
Product information must remain accurate across every touchpoint. Services need to connect seamlessly with merchandise. Store associates need access to the same information customers viewed online. Marketplace products need to feel like part of the broader brand experience.
For Castorama, creating that consistency is a major strategic priority. Wicha described the company’s ambition to become a truly digital and omnichannel organization, one capable of delivering a cohesive experience regardless of where a customer begins their journey.
Technology enables that vision.
But technology alone doesn’t deliver it.
Execution does.
The Bigger Takeaway
What made Wicha’s perspective so compelling was that it acknowledged both the excitement and the limitations of today’s technology landscape.
AI will continue to transform retail. Marketplaces will continue expanding. Retail media will continue growing. Data will become even more important.
But none of those developments automatically create value.
Retailers still need to solve customer problems. They still need to earn trust. They still need to help people navigate increasingly complex decisions.
Technology simply gives them new tools to accomplish those goals.
Throughout the conversation, Wicha consistently returned to the idea that retailers exist to help customers make better choices. Everything else—from AI to marketplaces to retail media—should support that mission.
The Bottom Line
The retail industry is moving quickly.
New technologies are emerging almost daily. AI capabilities continue to expand. Customer expectations are rising alongside them.
But as Robert Wicha reminded attendees in Amsterdam, technology is only valuable when it improves the customer experience.
The retailers that thrive in the years ahead won’t necessarily be the ones with the most technology. They’ll be the ones that use technology most effectively to simplify decisions, build trust, and help customers achieve their goals.
Because technology alone doesn’t create value.
People do.
To catch more conversations from the Global DIY-Summit 2026 in Amsterdam, follow Omni Talk Retail on LinkedIn or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Thank you to Vusion for supporting Omni Talk Retail’s live coverage from the Global DIY-Summit 2026, and thank you to our listeners for joining us during the event.
Be careful out there,
Chris Walton and the Omni Talk Team
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Omni Talk® is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton founded Omni Talk® in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail.