Founded back in 1978, The Home Depot is a popular US-based home improvement solution retailer selling useful and user-friendly products. The multinational arrived in the country of Mexico in 2001, capturing all total home fixing ranges from Grupo Alfa. Home Depot Online Store offers a wide range of useful tools, robust construction products, effective appliances, and many services.
While most people associate Home Depot with its bright orange logo, large warehouse-like stores, and huge logo, the number-one home-improvement retailer in the world deserves recognition for its digital progress. Although this progress was not celebrated with the same enthusiasm as Amazon’s, the numbers speak for themselves. Home Depot’s digital sales have increased by an astounding 762% over the past six years. Amazon’s product sales increased by 490% over the same time period in the North American market.
How did Home Depot become a household name and drive digital sales in a market that many others, such as Amazon, struggle to compete in?
A challenging category
Understanding the Home Depot home improvement category is essential to understanding how Home Depot has achieved its success.
Home Depot is a huge store with a wide range of products. The company stocks over half a billion individual products. There are over 7,000 variations of screws available. Many of these products aren’t common, everyday items that consumers instinctively buy. Others are highly technical and complex.
The combination of untold options and incomprehensible information can make it difficult for DIY professionals to purchase the right product. Home improvement is the most difficult retail sector for consumers.
This makes shopping in-store easier as customers can get expert advice immediately and can inspect the products in person to determine if they’re right for them. These benefits may be lost if you shop online.
The downside to ordering online is the slow delivery of products, especially if they are heavy and difficult to ship. Customers who are in need of home improvement products often order them immediately, especially if they have to make urgent repairs or complete a project in a short amount of time.