Lowe’s marches to omnichannel drummer

Mooresville, North Carolina-based Lowe’s CFO Bob Hull added color to the company’s effort to maximize its multichannel efficiencies and move away from a build-stores-and-they-will-come approach to growth.   

[Read about Lowe's first quarter earnings here.]

Speaking during the Oppenheimer 14th Annual Consumer Conference, Hull also said that 2013 was the best comp-store sales performance for the No. 2 home improvement chain since 2005, and he pointed to some of the reasons.

It begins, he said, with “improved capabilities within existing stores and across other channels,” as the company transforms into a “customer-centered omnichannel retailer.”

Two keys to that transformation, he said, is to sell seamlessly across channels and to expand fulfillment capabilities. 

Also, in 2013 more than 1400 stores were reset with revised endcap strategy and promotional spaces combined with “value improvement” line reviews and resets.

The online e-commerce component is taking on new levels of sophistication, according to Mike Jones, Lowe’s chief customer officer, who also participated in the Oppenheimer presentation.

“For us, online is not just about transactions, although we do that really well,” he said. “It’s about how do you pull that whole project together and leverage our call centers and other assets to manage that project.”

Regarding the macroeconomic conditions, Hull pointed to a first-quarter survey in which customers said they are feeling better about the opportunity to invest in their home.