Romain Roulleau, Group Digital & E-Commerce Director, Kingfisher, joins Natalie Berg to unpack how Kingfisher — the £13 billion home improvement giant behind B&Q, Screwfix, Castorama, and Brico Depot — is at the forefront of this next retail transformation.
In this episode, Romain reveals how Kingfisher's marketplace now drives 50% of e-commerce GMV, why they're betting on AI-powered conversational commerce with Google Cloud's Vertex AI, and what "agentic commerce" means for the future of retail.
Romain also unpacks the store-centric marketplace model that's become a differentiator against pure players — including click-and-collect and in-store returns for third-party products — and explains why 78% of Kingfisher's business still happens in physical stores, making expert advice the next frontier for AI.
If you're a retail leader navigating the shift from omnichannel to AI-powered commerce, this is your briefing.
🤝 This episode is brought to you by Manhattan Associates and was recorded in Barcelona at Shoptalk Europe. https://www.manh.com/
CHAPTERS
0:00 — Cold Open: "AI is Bigger Than E-commerce and Mobile"
2:27 — Who is Kingfisher?
4:37 — The State of Retail: Disruption from Chinese Platforms & Amazon
6:47 — Kingfisher's Marketplace Playbook: 50% of E-commerce GMV
10:35 — The Google Vertex AI Partnership & Why AI is the Biggest Disruption Yet
13:49 — AI as the Advice Layer
14:25 — AI Shopping: "Help Me With This DIY Project" vs "Buy Me a Drill"
16:54 — Agentic Commerce & Romain's 5-Year Retail Outlook
ABOUT OUR GUEST
As Group Digital & E-Commerce Director at Kingfisher, Romain is responsible for leading all marketplace, retail media, e-commerce and innovation activity within the Group and its banner brands. Prior to his current role, Romain spent five years as Chief Marketing, Digital & Customer Officer at Castorama, one of the leading home improvement retailers in France, driving the brand’s digital strategy and e-commerce growth. He has also previously held a number of senior digital and e-commerce roles within the travel industry globally, over the course of more than a decade, including as SVP, Digital & E-Commerce at AccorHotels, one of the world's largest hotel groups.
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