Home Depot and Lowes - Case Study Example

Analytical Report on Home Depot and Lowes Introduction: Home depot and Lowes are one of the leading America's retail home improvement establishments.Both the organizations serve as chain of home improvements. "Home Improvement Centers cater for home renovations and alterations, by supplying a broad range of home repair and maintenance goods including hardware, tools, equipment, plumbing and electrical goods, lumber and structural material. Products are both sourced from domestic manufacturers and wholesalers, as well as international locations, and then retailed to the general public. The majority of goods supplied by this industry are purchased by consumers and contractors". (Home Improvement Stores in the US, 2009) Lowes is a retail chain formed in the year1946 and now operating in all 50 states of United States. They were initially set up as a local hardware store but it turned out to be a nationwide chain of home improvement stores. They serve to all the needs for complete home improvements like products from bathrooms to the storage rooms and paints to safes. Lowes store has approximately 216, 000 employees all over its stores. Home Depot was started in the year 1978 and is operating currently in all 50 states of United States. They were initially a warehouse and then turned out as one of the America's best home improvement retailers providing products from appliances to hard wares. They have approximately 209, 300 employees working with them through out their stores. Both these organizations provide all the home improvement products under one roof. Lowes and Home Depot have their own websites for the customers to browse through and purchase products. They offer variety of facilities as an online shop. In the recent decade online shopping has become on of the most comfortable and preferred was of buying goods and services. The E-commerce times (2005) stated "Online shopping has increased over last year because both new and experienced Internet buyers are not only researching products and comparing prices online before making a purchase, but they are also finding good holiday discounts online," said Heather Dougherty, senior retail analyst, Nielsen//Net Ratings. It is important to keep the information and the content interesting so that there is a high inflow of new and existing customers to the site. There are few factors that are very essential for a website. The Gantt chart below represents the important aspects of a website from the Polls result of Port 80, Australian web industry association. Good functionality 1 4.35% Site content 9 39.13% Meeting customer's expectations 3 13.04% Search engine optimization 2 8.70% Good graphic design 2 8.70% Keeping content current 1 4.35% Professional presentation 2 8.70% User friendliness 3 13.04% Security of site where apply eg credit cards, privacy 0 0% A study on the websites of the home improvement retailers Lowes and Home depot: Lowes' website: Lowes has an exclusive website, www.lowes.com. The site is simple and neat which has its name and their caption which is "Let's build something together". The focal point is the photo at the centre of the home page. The picture simply demonstrates the availability of all the home improvement products at the store. The picture has all the products required for a complete living providing a spacious atmosphere interpreting the availability of modest merchandises. The description below that states "Campus kick off", which insists on the availability of all the home improvement products with them under one roof. The first glance of the site provides idea about the products available at the store, the offers at the store, quick link to other services and the service desk. The products in the site are separated according to the departments and rooms. This helps in easy identification and selection of products. The page also helps customer choose products by the offers at the store and there are a lot of useful information about Lowes in the home page. The site has sufficient amount of details and help the customers identify their desired product by easy navigation options and through clear descriptions. The products are well diversified according to the rooms and the departments and also according to the discounts. The site's content and navigation system is easy and simple which helps the customer use it effectively and quickly. The photos and the designs in the site are self descriptors for the products. The site is updated and provides information on current offers of the week. The site is very professional; it has a customer log in and assures security with their site through the customer login and the security and a privacy pledge. There is a separate option for the customers to track their orders. The site is user friendly as any layman can use the site with ease. There is a weekly adds section where the buying guides and special values from the Lowes store for the week are communicated to the customers and they can be viewed according to the city or state, which is again sub divided in to products by categories. The site also provides gift cards and gift advices that can be purchased online. They provide details of the installation services offered along with the purchase of the products and other value added services. The site over all looks simple and neat. The link is very quick and the next screen opens with in 10 seconds. All the products have an image which is very attractive. The subdivided category helps in searching products easily. The site is very informative; they even provide details about the shipping cost for the international customers, where the customers can view the products and purchase them online and the products would be shipped to their locations. There is also country specific information in the sites. The site's communication is effective through the website which is very essential for promoting sales. Home Depot's website: Home depot, one of the major home improvement retailers has their own site, www.homedepot.com. The home page of the site is very attractive. There is a good combination of colors and images with their name and their caption "More savings, More doings" in the home page. The first glance of the site is very attractive and induces to surf the site even more. The site has good contents and provides detailed information to shop on- line. The navigation system within the site is very quick and easy. The products are well diversified under categories with appropriate images as self descriptors. The home page provides abundant information about products. Selection and purchase of products through on line is very easy. The site is rich in contents, which provides detailed information like the sizes, colors, options, models, brands etc. They also use attractive terms, For instance "Energy saving Tax credit", which talks about the eligibility for federal tax credit. The search engine is very effective and it gives a lot of precise information. They also provide customer login accounts to protect the privacy and security of customers. The site has an easy navigation system. The designs are highly attractive. The site has good professionalism as it caters to the exact requirement of the customers. The site is highly user friendly, the terms used and the sub categories help common man to use it effectively. There is an order tracker which helps customers track the status of the orders. The site is up to date and provides the weekly ads and the offers at current prices. The site uses good technology with photos of merchandises flashing on the home page of the site which is very attractive. The site also provides options for International customers to purchase online and those products are shipped to their locations. The site also provides details of products specific to location through a link from the home page. The search engine is effective and helps in locating the products easily through location, states, pin codes etc. The site of home depot also talks about their strategy of selling eco friendly products. There is a separate section for customer service where all the concerns of the customers are addressed. There is also a link in the home page which directs you to the other countries sites of Home depot. Home depot has a consumer credit cards, the site also offers the facilities to purchase with the card. They communicate about the deferred payment method with no interest schemes. The site has a good level of communication with the customers. There is abundant of information available on the site with good and relevant images which makes the site look even more attractive. There is good security and privacy for customers; hence it enhances the increase of online sales year on year. Conclusion: A good website is one of the best strategies used by the organization to attract the customers and to meet their business needs. It is an influential concept to attract and retain customers and increase sales. It can be used as a tool to communicate to the customers effectively. It is one of the strategies for obtaining quick and easy growth. "Your web site is your opportunity to prove to potential customers that you have what they need and that you know what you're talking about." (What makes a good website) When comparing the Lowes 'and Home depot's website, both the sites have a good level of communication with the customers. Home depot's site looks more attractive with the technology and the content of the site. It has a quick and easy navigation system and an effective search engine. They provide precise information about the product and the offers. They keep updating their site often to give them a new look to attract customers and to increase sales. Lowes has a simple site which is easy to use and have categorized their products very well. Well organizing the data would increase its efficiency. Advertisements and contents of the site are up to date. Use of better graphical designs and technology will attract more customers. Both the organization is effective in communicating with the customers. The content and the navigation are good with both the sites but Lowes can improve on the design aesthetics. Both the home improvement stores have a good customer base; they can look at improving their sales by improving their websites in their content, size and efficiency. Waters says "Excellent customer service is the key to increasing sales. Listen to your customer to understand their needs and wants. Then educate him/her about the products. Finally, let the customer know you appreciate their business. Offer value-added services and products. Create a mailing list by asking for contact information from each customer." They must concentrate on new markets where they can induce online sales. It will increase the sales of the organizations. Citation Home Improvement Stores in the US - Industry Risk Rating Report, Mind Branch. 2009. Retrieved on 30.07.2009 from http://www.mindbranch.com/Home-Improvement-Stores-R538-28781/ Leclaire, Jennifer, Ecommerce times, 2005. Retrieved on 30.07.2009 from http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/47788.html Port 80, Australian web industry association, retrieved on 30.07.2009 from http://forums.port80.asn.au/showthread.phpt=7141 Waters, Shari. Tips to Increase Retail Sales. About.com: retailing. Retrieved on 30.07.2009 from http://retail.about.com/od/marketingsalespromotion/a/increase_sales.htm What makes a good web site Ten things you should know before you start, Rahvalor Interactive. Retrieved on 30.07.2009 from http://www.rahvalor.com/article-good-website.html Read More