The CEO of Leroy Merlin envisions the brand's future relationship with its customers.

Letter written by Alain Ryckeboer, General Manager of Leroy Merlin Brazil, titled "Customer Story - An Omni-Channel Experience". Two pages. In Portuguese. 31.7 cm x 22.9 cm. São Paulo, June 14, 2013. Excellent condition. Includes a dedication to Sofia.

For Sofia, a brief history of the future written in 2013. You will be able to measure, when you grow up, how far we were from reality. Alain, DG LM Brazil. 06/14/2014.

Leroy Merlin is a French company, founded in 1918, that arrived in Brazil in 1998. Today it is the largest retailer in the construction sector in the country, and its market share has been growing systematically. It brought to Brazil the concept of "Bricolagem," or "do it yourself," a term used to describe anything you can do without the help of a specialized professional. As of July 2014, it has 7,000 employees and 31 stores, distributing 80,000 different items for building, renovating, or decorating your home.

This document was written for a national convention called "Vision 2020," the result of a year's work at headquarters and in each store, with the goal of defining the company's identity from 2020 onwards. In this text, Alain Ryckeboer, the company's General Manager, tells a "prospective" story where Sofia (!) and Denis, a young Brazilian couple, plan to shop at Leroy Merlin for their home. The couple uses a smartphone to watch videos about products, compare prices, etc., before going to the stores, where thousands of products are on display, a well-trained customer service team, and various innovations that will allow them to complete their project. For confidentiality reasons, we have committed to not disclosing details of this text before 2020.

Why is this document rare?

This very interesting document shows the foresight efforts of the leader of one of the largest companies in Brazil, a process that began with the ideas of each employee and thousands of customer surveys.

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