Three keys to Home Depot growth
The Home Depot – at its 2023 investor and analyst conference in Atlanta – revealed its strategic priorities.
“We play in a large and highly fragmented market,” said Ted Decker, chair, president and CEO for the giant retailer from the podium on a lighted stage.
Slides flashed on the screen behind him for the in-person audience, and also on viewers’ computer monitors watching remote on live simulcast.
“Eighty percent of our customers are homeowners,” he said, “but we are building a ‘pro ecosystem’ because most pros shop with us.”
The company pointed to services in place like a pro desk, pro brands and a pro loyalty program, and said it is targeting $200 billion of the ‘complex project’ segment of the pro market.
Also, the retailer plans to open 80 new stores in the next five years, he said.
Ann-Marie Campbell, EVP, U.S. stores and International operations, took the stage right after the CEO and said, “we want to deliver a great interconnected customer experience and address any customer pain points.”
She pointed out that the retailer not only wants to open new stores but continue to improve on speed and convenience, giving self-checkouts and pickup lockers as examples.
“Our Sidekick technology,” she said as another screen flashed a graphic, “helps associates to stock shelves. We call this the, ‘path to the perfect bay,’ where a store associate will take a photo of an empty bay and this will feed to our technology learning system to re-stock.”
Billy Bastek, EVP of marketing stepped on stage next and said the retailer is about, “balancing art and science – that means product assortment, data and space allocation.”
He looked out at the audience and posed this: “How do we continue our momentum?”
Their goal is to win together with their vendors, he said, “we have a ‘pipeline of innovation,’ that is as strong as ever.”
An example flashed on screen in a video highlighting their recent Product Walk event in Las Vegas to showcase 6,000 SKUs, 4,000 of which were new, for Home Depot store managers only.
After the video he said, “The battery platform is growing. We estimate there are 480 batteries active in the market today. This is a sale and growth opportunity.”
Bastek also pointed to expanding their paint market with partners like Behr and PPG; “We are expanding our ‘pros that paint.’ When we deliver our goal of collaboration with our partners, magic happens.”
He wrapped it up with a reminder of how the retailer operates sustainably and said about The Home Depot: “We are the overall authority of home improvement.”
While numbers provided by the retailer predict low single digit growth this year, the CEO framed the future path to conference viewers: “The best days are still ahead.”
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The growth of the battery platform is highlighted by this slide during the conference. -
Billy Bastek, EVP of marketing talks about, “product assortment, data and space allocation.” -
Ann-Marie Campbell, EVP, U.S. stores and International operations, talked about their Sidekick technology; “We call this the, ‘path to the perfect bay.’”
