A look into Home Depot consumers, its e-commerce website and the interaction between the retail stores and consumers. We will look into homedepot.com as a brand and an avenue for more sales. This document will provide brand marketing suggestions while summarizing Home Depot’s brand and e-commerce platform.

1. DeJuan Calloway
1/22/17
HOME DEPOT COMPANY
OVERVIEW
A snapshotoverview of www.homedepot.com e-commerce
platform.
A look into Home Depot consumers, its ecommerce website and the interaction
between the retail stores and consumers. We will look into homedepot.com as a
brand and an avenue for more sales. This document will provide brand marketing
suggestions while summarizing Home Depot’s brand and e-commerce platform.

2. 1/22/2017
1
Home Depot Company Overview
A snapshot overview of www.homedepot.com e-commerce platform.
Home Depot is one of the largest home improvement retailers based in the US. The company
sells its merchandise in brick and mortar stores that are 104,000 sq. ft. of enclosed space, with 24,000
additional sq. ft. of outside garden area. As of January 2016, Home Depot operates out of 263
distribution centers and warehouses covering 43 US states. Home Depot Inc. also has 34 bulk
distribution centers and 22 stocking centers in the
US, Canada and, Mexico. As of January 2016, the
company operated a total of 2,274 Home Depot
stores The company reported revenues of (US
Dollars) $88.5 billion for the fiscal year ended
January 2016 (FY 2016), an increase of 6.4%
over FY2015.
The company predominantly categorizes
its customers into three groups: Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Customers who are the homeowners who
purchase products and complete their own projects and installations. Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) Customers
are homeowners who purchase materials and hire third parties to complete the project or installation.
Professional customers are primarily professional renovators/remodelers, general contractors,
repairmen, installers, small business owners and tradesmen. All three segments of customers are
specifically targeted through a range of products and services.
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The Harvard JCHS (Joint Center for Housing Studies) reported spending on DIY improvement
to be $34 billion in 2013. 62% of adults who have done a DIY project in the past year bought materials
from The Home Depot, and 50% bought materials from Lowe’s. Home Depot gained 6.4% in total
sales in 2015 to reach $89 billion while Lowe’s gained 5.1% to reach $59 billion according to the
companies’ respective financial disclosures.
The company offers its products under 15 categories: Flooring, Tools, Paint, Lumber, Kitchen
and bath, Plumbing, Indoor garden, Building materials, Hardware, Decor, Outdoor garden, Millwork,
Appliances, Electrical, and Lighting.
The Home Depot, Inc. SWOT Analysis Synopsis
The Home Depot, Inc. (Home Depot) is the retailer of home improvement products. Sustained
financial growth, multi-channel selling, and diversified product and service portfolio are the
company’s major strengths, whereas huge debt, data breach and lower inventory turnover ratio remain
major areas of concern. In the future, expanding retail market in the US, focus on multi-family,
hospitality and institutional markets, and focus on customer-centric business model are likely to
provide growth opportunities to the company. However, stringent regulations, expansion by competitor
and foreign exchange risks could affect its growth.
Strength: Sustained Financial Growth, Multi-Channel Selling, Diversified Product and Service
Portfolio
Weakness: Huge Debt, Lower Inventory Turnover Ratio, Data Breach
Opportunity: Expanding Retail Market in the US, Focus on Multi-family, Hospitality and
Institutional Markets, Focus on Customer-Centric Business Model
Threat: Stringent Regulations Expansion by Competitors, Foreign Exchange Risks
A Look into ww.homedepot.com Types of Searches

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According to SEMrush, Home Depot’s desktop e-commerce platform receives 62.4 million
organic searches and has a total of 1.5 million paid searches along with 3.9 million backlinks.
This report was analyzed on January 21, 2016.
Home Depot’s mobile platform receives 1.1 million organic searches equaling to a total of 10.73% of
Home Depot’s e-commerce organic searches.

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There is an estimated 37% of branded searches for homedepot.com. Home Depot brand is
exceptionally familiar globally. A strategy to increase awareness must be in place to assist with the
number of branded searches. The figure shows the branded vs. non branded searches,
Keyword Analysis
Top 10 three-word keywords for home depot.com are diy projects ideas, truck tool
rental, area rugs hardware, gift cards credit, pro xtra gift, services local ad, store finder truck, hardware
heating cooling, blinds decor building and, cards credit services according to seocentro.com.
Top 10 two-word keywords: home depot, save up, project ideas, special offers, home services,
truck tool, tool rental, gift cards, diy projects, and electrical plumbing.
Top 10 on page top keywords: home, depot, services, shop, order, up, store, kitchen, my, and
credit.
Top 10 keywords found in anchor tag: appliances, home services, diy project ideas, truck
tool rentals, gift cards, special offer, all departments, tools, light ceiling fans and, my account. The top
competitors for these keywords consist of Amazon.com, pinterest.com, sears.com, Lowes.com,
bestbuy.com and bigdiyideas.com
Top organic keywords are based off of homedepot.com desktop platform.

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Top organic keywords are based off of homedepot.com mobile platform.
Competition
Home Depot faces many retail competitors but there are several that are consistently ranked hire in
competitiveness with Home Depot. The top competitors as a brand are, Amazon, Ebay, Wal-Mart,
Apple, Target, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Macy’s Lowe’s, Aldi, Ikea, CVS and Alibaba. Below are charts and
graphs explaining data from many sources about the top retail websites unique visitors. The charts
displayed in this section also show the top retail brands globally. The information contained in the
images below was sourced from eMarketer.com retail marketing report.

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Home Depot rules out its top competitor Lowe’s and Menards in the DIY, DIFM, and Professional
retail category with being named the number 3rd retail brand based of data collected in 2016and
published by Milward Brown, “Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2016.”
The figure above shows that the majority Home Depot’s e-commerce users are individuals who make
over $100k.

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Home Depot has shoppers in most age groups but there is a demographic that surpasses them all which
is males ranging from 34-54 with an income of over $100k.
Game Changing Suggestions
A rise in new housing starts, spurred by low mortgage rates, has benefitted big-box home
improvement stores like The Home Depot and Lowe’s. These retailers are popular destinations for
DIYers for materials and advice, but their upswing in earnings are largely dependent on the
professional contractor market. Since the housing market sales are starting to level off there are a great
amount of potential customers who will be practicing in DIY in their homes specifically for decorative
and repair purposes. As reported in Mintel’s DIY Home Improvement and Maintenance - US,
September 2016. A challenge will be gaining these customers to purchase products and conduct these
projects, since most adults at 66% have either basic or no DIY skills. A main cause for this margin is
due to consumers not having experience or the right tools. This can influence consumers to not pursue
the project or wait until they can afford professional services. Home Depot is doing a great job with
DIY videos online as well as hosting workshops in retail stores.
Homedepot.com is a remarkable website for it’s target customers and the services are
exceptional. But, what about the group of consumers missed? The lower class group making $30,000
or less in urban areas. What The Home Depot can do is advertise locally to areas surrounding its retail
stores. This is where the $30,000 less customers can be reached allowing consumers exposure to The
Home Depot’s products and services as well as opening a new target segment for The Home Depot.

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After reviewing the brand and product MARAZZI Montagna Wood Vintage Chic 6 in. x 24 in.
Porcelain Floor and Wall Tile (14.53 sq. ft. / case) on homedepot.com, I have a suggestion that will
help buyers when they are browsing the product. Having the product placed in a kitchen or open area
will be valuable to customers so they can get an idea of how this product would possibly look in their
home. This similar concept of staging is used regularly with realtors when introducing a home to a new
home buyer or renter.
he Home Depot is leading the way on having an interconnected retail experience between the retail
stores and ecommerce websites. The internet is a faster, cheaper way of shopping, but the majority of
The Home Depot’s customers choose to shop in store. Thus, there are even better opportunities to
provide a remarkable in-store experience that would be valuable to customers.
The brand advocate analyst will assist the Brand (company or supplier) with their online
presence on homedepot.com to improve the sales and traffic for that particular brand. Suggestions such
as those that I have mentioned, can be discussed through the relationship built with suppliers and brand
advocates. It is something that I believe I could be an asset to, and it would be my pleasure to speak
with you in person to discuss how I can help improve brand’s business on homedepot.com as well as
improve The Home Depots’ e-commerce brand.