Lowe’s adjusts its price promise
Lowe’s third quarter numbers were down – comp-store sales slipped 7.4 percent at the Mooresville, North Carolina-based retail giant.
The company’s third-quarter earnings call addressed a number of initiatives to boost customer traffic and sales, including a “Lowest Price Guarantee” program.
Exclusions apply, of course. Including lower prices outside a ZIP code, and lower prices at a different Lowe’s store. But the tagline is simple and clear: ”Found a lower price? We’ll match it.”
According to Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison, the new program and slogan are designed to reach value-conscious customers against the backdrop of a greater-than-expected pullback in DIY discretionary spending. The old price promise, just wasn’t cutting it, he said.
“Our research indicated that we needed a more simplistic straightforward message to the customers about our value,” Ellison said. “We had something that was a little too cute called a “price promise” that I think was way too ambiguous. And we decided just to keep it simple and stand by the fact that we will support the lowest price in the industry on the products that we sell.”
The Lowest Price Guarantee works like this: If customers find a current lower price on an identical in-stock item from another local retailer, Lowe’s will match it. Customers need to the website, ad, printout or photo to a store employee who can validate it.
Executive Vice President of Merchandising Bill Boltz elaborated on the concept of value and its importance in today’s landscape “I think the consumer's looking for value, and so we've got to find different ways to highlight value, and those are the things that this team is doing,” he said. “And value can come in a lot of ways outside of just a reduction in price. You can highlight it through new and innovative products.
“You can highlight it through a special offer, or you can do it through a vendor-funded promotion. Those are the things that we're trying to take advantage of.”
