At a conference where AI dominated nearly every stage discussion, one retailer offered a fascinating reminder that data may be the most underappreciated competitive advantage in retail today.
Speaking live from the Vusion Podcast Studio at the Global DIY Summit 2026 in Amsterdam, Harri Karumo, Senior Vice President and K-Rauta Chain Director at Kesko, explained how one of the Nordic region’s largest retailers is leveraging insights across grocery, home improvement, and even automotive businesses to better understand customers and drive growth.
The conversation covered everything from Nordic home improvement trends and retailer-owned business models to AI adoption and leadership. But one theme stood above the rest:
The retailers that understand customers best will have the biggest advantage in the years ahead.
And in Kesko’s case, that advantage comes from seeing customers across multiple parts of their lives.
From Finance To Retail Leadership
Harri’s path into retail wasn’t exactly planned.
With a finance background and a master’s degree from Helsinki Business School, he originally started his career at 3M as an analyst and controller. But after several years in finance, colleagues began giving him an observation that would ultimately shape his career.
“You are really good at this job, but you’re too social.”
Rather than taking offense, Harri viewed it as a signal that his interests may be better aligned with the commercial side of the business.
A move into retail sales exposed him to the home improvement industry, and he quickly found himself drawn to the combination of brands, customers, merchandising, and store operations.
More than two decades later, he’s still in the industry.
Like many retail leaders, what started as an unexpected career move eventually became a long-term passion.
Understanding Kesko’s Unique Business Model
For those unfamiliar with Kesko, the company operates one of the most interesting retail structures in Europe.
The publicly traded Finnish retailer generates roughly half of its revenue from grocery operations while also maintaining significant businesses in home improvement, building materials, technical trade, and automotive retail.
What makes the model particularly unique is that many of Kesko’s retailers are also owners.
As Harri explained, the company essentially operates between retailer-owners and customers, creating strong alignment throughout the organization.
The scale is substantial.
Kesko’s grocery business alone commands nearly 40% market share in Finland, while its building and technical trade operations extend across Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, and the Baltics.
For K-Rauta specifically, the company operates approximately 125 stores across Finland, giving it one of the country’s most extensive home improvement networks.
Why Nordic Home Improvement Is Different
One of the most interesting portions of the discussion centered on how Nordic home improvement differs from both mainland Europe and the United States.
While Harri expressed admiration for the scale of American giants like Home Depot and Lowe’s, he pointed out that Nordic retailers face a very different operating environment.
The market is highly fragmented across countries, languages, regulations, and customer behaviors.
Scale is harder to achieve.
At the same time, Nordic retailers face unique challenges that influence everything from assortment planning to store operations.
The climate is one example.
Heating costs can significantly impact store profitability during colder winters, while building materials must meet strict standards for insulation, moisture control, and durability.
As a result, quality expectations tend to be exceptionally high.
Customers aren’t simply buying products.
They’re buying materials that need to withstand some of the harshest weather conditions in Europe.
The Summer Cottage Economy
Another uniquely Nordic dynamic is the role second homes play in customer behavior.
Finland has a population of roughly 5.5 million people and approximately 2.3 million households.
Yet the country also has nearly one million summer cottages.
That means a significant portion of the population maintains a second property that requires ongoing maintenance, repairs, landscaping, and upgrades.
For home improvement retailers, that creates an entirely different customer profile than what might exist in more urbanized markets.
Many customers aren’t maintaining just one property.
They’re maintaining two.
And those projects generate year-round demand across multiple categories.
As Harri joked during the conversation, many Finns would likely be spending the upcoming midsummer weekend at their cottages rather than at home.
The Hidden Advantage Of Grocery + DIY Data
Perhaps the most compelling insight from the entire interview came when Harri described how Kesko combines customer data across its grocery and home improvement businesses.
Because customers use the same loyalty ecosystem across multiple retail banners, Kesko gains a much richer understanding of how people live and shop.
For example, if a customer regularly shops for groceries in Helsinki during the week but consistently makes purchases in another city on weekends, Kesko can often infer that the customer owns a cottage or second property there.
That insight creates opportunities to deliver more relevant marketing, product recommendations, and customer experiences.
It’s a capability many retailers simply don’t possess.
While much of retail has spent the last decade specializing and narrowing focus, Kesko’s diversified structure creates a surprisingly modern advantage.
The more customer touchpoints a retailer can connect, the more complete the customer picture becomes.
And in an increasingly data-driven world, that picture becomes incredibly valuable.
Where AI Is Delivering Results Today
Like nearly every executive attending the Global DIY Summit, Harri sees enormous potential in artificial intelligence.
But his perspective on where AI is currently creating value was refreshingly practical.
Rather than focusing on futuristic customer-facing applications, Kesko is seeing immediate benefits in operational areas including:
• Inventory replenishment
• Product data management
• Marketing planning
• Campaign analysis
• Customer targeting
• Internal process automation
The goal isn’t simply reducing costs.
It’s freeing employees from repetitive work so they can spend more time helping customers.
That mirrors a trend being discussed throughout the summit, where many retailers are finding the fastest returns from AI inside the business rather than directly in front of customers.
The Biggest AI Challenge Isn’t Technology
One of the most honest moments of the conversation came when Harri was asked what makes AI adoption difficult.
His answer wasn’t data quality.
It wasn’t systems integration.
It wasn’t technology investment.
It was time.
Retail leaders understand AI’s potential.
They attend conferences, read articles, watch demonstrations, and hear success stories.
But learning how to effectively use these tools requires experimentation, curiosity, and practice.
Finding the time to do that amid daily responsibilities remains one of the biggest barriers.
Harri’s advice was simple:
Start with something you already care about.
Use AI to explore a hobby, a sport, or a personal interest before trying to transform an entire business process.
The more comfortable people become with the technology, the easier it becomes to identify practical applications inside the workplace.
Curiosity Remains A Leadership Superpower
That emphasis on curiosity surfaced repeatedly throughout the discussion.
Whether talking about AI, customer behavior, retail strategy, or conference learning, Harri consistently returned to the importance of remaining open to new ideas.
In many ways, his own career reflects that mindset.
A finance professional who accidentally found his way into retail eventually became a leader in one of Europe’s largest home improvement organizations.
The common thread wasn’t expertise.
It was curiosity.
A willingness to explore something unfamiliar and see where it led.
The Bigger Takeaway
One of the themes emerging across many conversations at the Global DIY Summit is that retail’s future won’t be defined by any single technology.
AI matters.
Data matters.
Stores matter.
Digital experiences matter.
But the retailers creating sustainable advantages are the ones finding ways to connect those capabilities together.
Kesko offers a compelling example.
Its grocery business informs its home improvement business.
Its data improves its marketing.
Its AI investments improve internal efficiency.
Its store network strengthens customer relationships.
Each piece becomes more valuable because it works alongside the others.
The Bottom Line
Retail leaders often talk about customer centricity.
Kesko demonstrates what customer centricity looks like when it’s powered by connected data.
By understanding customers across multiple aspects of their lives, the company can identify needs, improve experiences, and uncover opportunities that might otherwise remain invisible.
And while AI may be the industry’s most talked-about technology today, Harri Karumo’s message offered an important reminder:
Technology only becomes valuable when it helps retailers understand and serve customers better.
The companies that can combine data, curiosity, and execution will be the ones best positioned to win.
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.