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Kingfisher and Google Cloud have announced a multi-year partnership to integrate generative artificial intelligence across the home improvement group’s e-commerce platforms.
The investment will see Kingfisher deploy Google’s Vertex AI technology at B&Q in the UK, Castorama in France and Poland, and Brico Dépôt in France.
The system replaces traditional keyword search with conversational tools designed to help customers plan home improvement projects and generate automated shopping lists.
News of the partnership comes as recent data shows e-commerce now accounts for more than 20% of total group sales, following the earlier launch of Kingfisher’s internal AI platform, Athena.
The project includes the modernisation of Nucleus, the company’s central data lake, to provide a secure foundation for future digital projects and shopping agents.
Thierry Garnier, chief executive of Kingfisher, said: “Through this partnership with Google Cloud, we are enabling our customers to search for and buy home improvement products with AI – delivering a fully personalised and easy shopping experience.”
Matt Renner, president of Google Cloud, added: “Kingfisher is setting a new standard for how retailers can use innovative cloud solutions to solve complex customer problems.”
