Home Depot and Lowe’s talk tech
When the two biggest home improvement retailers talk to investors about their business, it’s a good bet that technology and online sales will be mentioned early and often.
Such was the case during the latest round of earnings reports delivered by The Home Depot and Lowe’s.
Both companies reported growth of online sales—or in the vernacular of Home Depot: sales that leverage the company’s digital platforms. Such sales were up 4 percent in the third quarter for Home Depot, compared to the third quarter last year. Also at the Atlanta-based home improvement retailer, nearly half of online orders were fulfilled through the company’s brick-and-mortar stores.
“We are focused on continuing to improve our interconnected retail experience, whether it is our faster delivery speeds, our more relevant and personalized search results, or our enhanced product review summaries powered by AI, all of which are leading to greater purchasing confidence for our customers,” said Billy Bastek, executive vice president of merchandising for Home Depot.
Another area of tech-emphasis during the earnings all of the world’s largest home improvement retailer was its role in shrink reduction.
Ann Marie Campbell, Home Depot’s senior executive vice president, gave the following overview on the effort: “For us, our focus on mitigating shrink has been a continual and evolving process, leveraging our cross-functional teams and investing in technology to test and learn the most effective methods of reducing shrink,” she said. “While the external environment continues to be challenging, we're incredibly pleased with the positive momentum we are seeing and improve results through our shrink mitigating initiatives.”
At Mooresville, North Carolina-based Lowe’s, the third-quarter saw sustained strength in online sales, which were up 6 percent.
“We've increased both online conversion and traffic, including a double-digit increase in traffic on our Lowe's mobile app,” Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison said in the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “And we're making it easier and more convenient for customers to order paint and paint supplies online by expanding our free same-day paint delivery program.”
Ellison took a moment to emphasize a simple DIY fact: ”And as a reminder, paint remains the number one home improvement project.”
Another tech effort gaining momentum at Lowe’s involves the MyLowe’s Rewards loyalty program, which is boosting repeat purchases, average order value and penetration of loyalty member purchases, the company said.
Lowe’s Bill Boltz, executive vice president of merchandising, added that Lowe’s is “now leveraging the insights we gain from our loyalty program to transform our marketing with tailored offers by anticipating what customers need next. And we're reminding them to take advantage of their MyLowe's money sending them tailored offers to entice them to return and shop categories we know they've shopped before.
