Home Depot

Introduction

Established in the year 1978, Home Depot is undoubtedly one of the leading home-improvement retail companies in the United States. While other retailers in different sectors including electronics and apparel continue to struggle, Home Depot continues to generate remarkable sales and profit numbers (Bhasin). In overseas markets including Canada, Home Depot has established dominance largely because of the company’s ability to understand its customers. Home Depot provides a sense of expression, accomplishment, and pride to its customers, who in turn save their expenditure while improving their living standards. 

Marketing Mix (4Ps)

Product

Home Depot operates a number of business segments that sell a wide range of products including building materials, garden, lawn, as well as home improvement products. With these products, the company has been able to attract different types of customers that consist of do-it-yourself, do-it-for-me, and professional customers (Bowman). In general, do-it-yourself customers are homeowners who buy products and complete the installation process themselves. Do-it-for-me customers are homeowners that hire third parties to conduct the installation process, whereas professional customers comprise of contractors, plumbers, as well as other experts that specialize in home improvement.

Moreover, Home Depot may arrange to install a variety its products to its customers through independent contractors, as well as offer a variety of programs such as delivery and expanded credit programs just to mention a few. Apart from selling products from equipment manufacturers, Home Depot specializes in selling its own brands that include tools, fixtures, paints, and furniture among other products (Rowland). Home Depot also specializes in providing numerous services to its customers including expert advice, third party products, in addition to professional and contractor services. Moreover, the company specializes in building as well as garden and lawn products such as grills, lighting, doors, and other appliances (Bhasin).

Place/Distribution

The main place for a company to make sales is its store. In this regard, Home Depot’s distribution strategy involves its warehouse-style stores, online stores, and mobile application. Although the vast majority of Home Depot’s sales transactions occur within its warehouse-style stores, the company also generates revenues through online stores, as customers order their products for delivery. Mobile apps enable customers to locate particular stores and place their orders using the online platform. By integrating online technology, Home Depot is able to maximize its reach and target more customers. 

Home Depots’ customer-centric approach and efficient distribution channel that comprise of resourceful workers have greatly contributed to the company’s ability to attract high buyer traffic. In line with its customer focus strategy and the changing habits and needs of consumers, Home Depot carried out various measures to secure its online transactions (Bhasin). Establishing an effective and working supply chain is key in providing a better shopping experience for customers. For a company like Home Depot whose products characterize such as unpredictable demand, a short product life cycle and product propagation, and a responsive supply chain, has enabled the company to achieve its goal of providing exemplary customer service.

Get a brand-new guide on essay writing

Everything you need to get A+ this semester!

Get it

By continuing, you agree to the Terms And conditions and Privacy policy

The download will start within seconds. Good luck!

Download

Price

Home Depot has differentiated itself from its competitors and remained at the top in the retail sector through its competitive pricing policies (Bhasin). Guaranteed low price or GLP is a penetration pricing strategy adopted by Home Depot to draw customers, ensure competitiveness, and enhance revenues. Another pricing strategy used by Home Depot to attract customers and accomplish its generic strategy is Everyday Low Price also known as EDLP.  Although the company offers competitive prices, its main emphasis is to provide high-quality service that includes expert advice and online technology integration (Rowland).

Despite not opening new stores, Home Depot has continued to experience better sales growth compared to its closest competitors including Lowe (Kalogeropoulos). By avoiding the expenditure that comes with investing in new stores, the company grew its sales by 30 percent. Although Lowe’s gains in stock have kept a close pace with Home Depot, the profit growth experienced by Home Depot continues to double. The home improvement industry continues to grow, especially in the consumer market. Other competitors such as Rona and Menards are considered small players due to their lack of retail dominance and national presence. Home Depot dominates the market with a share of 24 percent, while Lowe enjoys a market share of 17 percent (Team).

Promotion

So as to attract more customers and serve the existing ones, Home Depot is utilizing vigorous communication strategies in order to enhance the visibility of its products. Some of the strategies used by Home Depot to promote its products and other actives include advertisements, sales promotions, direct selling through contractors, personal selling through its store personnel and public relations. Engaging in public relations is of key importance as the company engages in sponsorship programs and corporate responsibility programs (Rowland). One the key factor that has enabled Home Depot to succeed is its online sales. The fact that people are now changing towards online shopping; Home Depot had no choice but to fully embraced the opportunity.

Although Home Depot is the leading retailer in the home improvement sector, there are a number of other players in the market including Lowe, Kingfisher PLC, and Fiskars Oyj among others. Out of these companies, Lowe is the only constant competitor to Home Depot in the industry (Morningstar). The other competitors have not been able to come close to Home Depot due to factors such as pricing, product selection, and strategic alliance.

Get your paper done on time by an expert in your field.

Learn more