Home Depot rolls out Sidekick app

The Home Depot is rolling out a homegrown app called Sidekick developed to help store associates prioritize tasks more effectively.

The app is a new addition to hdPhones, the retailer’s mobile device dedicated to improving the associate and customer experience.

“The first step to customer service is being in stock with the right product that’s easy to locate,” said Muzammil Akram, vice president for store technology of The Home Depot. “Equipping our associates with innovative technology is one key factor in delivering on that initiative.”

Powered by machine learning (ML), the app guides an associate to prioritize the highest demand product, which shelf to restock, and the location of the excess product on overhead shelves.

The company said Sidekick saves time and increases productivity for associates by:

● Leveraging a cloud-enabled ML algorithm to determine which tasks are actionable and when they should be completed;

● Utilizing machine vision to detect and fill out-of-stock products, as well as to locate products in stores;

● Alerting specific associates which tasks need to be completed first via a common tasking engine;

● Showcasing where and how to complete a task in a dashboard with associate and manager views; and,

● Integrating with other platforms to ensure all data and task prioritization is up-to-date and aligned with broader business needs.

The large retailer said it has already installed Sidekick in more than 600 stores and plans to expand deployment to all U.S. stores by the end of the company’s 2022 fiscal year.

“Sidekick is the perfect addition to hdPhones because it utilizes a data-driven approach to help our associates prioritize which tasks will benefit our customers the most,” said Akram.