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Home depot industry analysis and strategy
Home depot business model strategy
Home depot industry analysis and strategy
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Consumers in today’s market are growing increasingly more aware of the need for companies to be socially responsible in order for consumers to show support through loyal business. Baby Boomers, The Silent Generation, Generation Y and Generation X cultures have embraced the megatrend of environmental and social consciousness of organizations, despite their many different generational characteristics (Kotler & Ketler, 2012). Home Depot has become more than just the orange home improvement store by continuing to effectively integrate multiple marketing strategies into its business plan. Home Depot targets a variety of consumers, helping gain a wide customer base to support the company even through economic swings (Home Depot, 2012). By focusing on all of the macro-environmental factors, Home Depot is now known as a company that helps all Americans create a personal sanctuary in their homes, regardless of their income (Home Depot, 2012).
Home Depot focuses on the demographic macro-environmental factor by effectively reaching all generations: from the Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) and The Silent Generation (born between 1925 and 1945) to Generation X (born between 1964 and 1978) and Generation Y (born between 1979 and 1994) by making home improvement seem approachable, affordable, and fun (Kotler & Ketler, 2012). Both the Silent Generation and the Baby Boomers have been grouped into a target market labeled “undesirable” by many organizations due to their age (Kotler & Ketler, 2012). Home Depot realized this overlooked market and capitalized on it by employing people in both older generations, making older consumers more comfortable asking for assistance when they need it. By not aggressively marketing to any partic...
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...mer base. Home Depot, as an organization, makes it evident that based on their success, the organization’s marketing strategy marks the shift that today’s consumers respond best to. Consumers no longer purchase products, they support organization they can realte to or they feel proud to support. Home Depot is an excellent example of the type of marketing campaigns that gains the highest return by its focus on branding the company as an organization with a heart, wanting to create a happy home for every type of American.
References
Ferrell, O., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2011). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases: 8th ed. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Kotler, P., Keller, K. (2012). Marketing management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Home Depot. (2012). The home depot values. Retrieved from: http://www.homedepot.com/
Established as the older company of the two, Lowe’s ranks forty-second as a Fortune 500 company. Established in 1946 as a small hardware business, Lowe’s has grown into a 40,000 product, global market enterprise that consist of 1,710 stores nationwide expanding into the countries of Canada, Mexico and Australia (Lowe's Internal, 2010) Home Depot, founded in 1978, is the fastest growing retailer in the United States. Ranked twenty-ninth as a Fortune 500 company, Home Depot continues to remain the number one do-it-yourself retail store in America. These two companies may sell products of the same nature, but comparing their Code of Ethics is their way of setting themselves apart. (Home Depot Internal, 2009)
Home Depot is the brainchild of Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank and came about after both men lost their job in the home improvement industry in 1978 (Parnell, 2014). Home Depot has acquired several smaller home improvement stores in both the U.S. and abroad through the years which enabled it to position itself as the world’s largest home improvement chain (Parnell, 2014). Home Depot focuses on the do-it-yourself segment of the market and sells sells tools, construction products and services. Marketing is a strong point for the company. They are able to maintain a competitive advantage by keeping themselves available to their customers at all times. Home Depot has been using both online and offline marketing efforts. The internet has become a very useful tool for the company and part of the reason that they are leading the market in DIY stores. Home Depot currently provides DIY videos on YouTube and Vine that cover current topics that consumers are likely to be interested in. They also have social media pages on Facebook and Twitter, where they have a huge following. They provide online communities where actual employees answer consumer’s questions and provide assistance on
In the early 2000’s Lowe’s was rapidly intensifying its presence nationwide. The company carried a varied assortment of home improvement products and catered to the needs of retail as well as commercial business customers. Lowe’s expanded their reach by acquiring a 41-store chain, Eagle Hardware and Garden, and engaging in a strategic alliance with HGTV to obtain a more profound existence in their market (Rouse, 2005). By 2004, Lowe’s operated almost 1,000 stores with plans to continue expansion across the nation (Rouse, 2005). The company has a core competency in helping customers meet their home improvement needs at a low price. In order to use this core competency to gain a competitive advantage, the company has focused on key functional strategies. To continue their success, Lowe’s must specifically focus on marketing, logistics, and human resource management strategies.
Home Depot’s slogan, “More saving. More Doing.”, promotes Home Depot’s marketing strategy with more appeal for customers with less money to spend. Home Depot carries major brands but also carries Home Depot exclusives and proprietary brands which save customers money. Home Depot carries major brands like Dewalt, Hampton Bay, Homelite, and Martha Stewart Living. They also carry proprietary brands such as Ryobi, Rigid, Behr, LG and Toro.
The Home Depot is recognized as being the leader in the home improvement retail industry by combining the economies of scale inherent in a warehouse format with a level of customer service unparalleled among warehouse-style retailers. ("Home Depot to", 1999)
The Article, "Renovating Home Depot," describes how, since the arrival of the new Chief Executive, Robert Nardelli, the business strategy has shifted to a more militaristic style. In the beginning, Home Depot was a "decentralized, entrepreneurial" business, and now is switching to a different management style. Nardelli loves to hire ex-soldiers, and is perhaps using the armed services as a role model for the new business structure. Under Nardelli's leadership, Home Depot is becoming more centralized and the good financial reports following this are signs that it a good strategy (Grow 50).
Home Depot operates in the home improvement retail industry that comprises of retailer that sell appliances, lumber, building material, kitten fittings and other home improvement products aimed at improving existing structures. Companies functioning in the home improvement industry buy products from retailer and manufacturer based all over the world, and then put those products for sale on the market to three types of buyers, generally characterized as: do-it-for-me, do-it-yourself, and professional customers. The home improvement retail industry is well established industry and is highly attractive and there is high level of price competition among the key players of the industry as the products lines are all the same.
Graham Hill, an entrepreneur that values environmental sustainability, narrates his negative experiences with consumerism after selling an internet consultant company, for so much money that it made his head spin, in “Living With Less. A Lot Less.” He begins by talking about his current minimalist lifestyle, and then jumps back in time to the late ‘90s, right after he sold his business. He claims that the stuff he bought with his newfound wealth seemed to be controlling his life, and that he became more stressed out as time went on.
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is the fourteenth largest retailer in America, and overall the world’s second largest home improvement retailer. They are the 108th ranked corporation on the Fortune 500 top corporations list. With an impressive in store stock of 40,000 home improvement items on hand, ranging from lumber to Home décor items, plus an additional 400,000 home improvement items available through a special order program. Lowe’s provides a onetime stop for all home improvement needs, for both the Do-It-Yourselfer, and the ever-expanding market of the Commercial Business Customer.
After reading the OD Application on "The Home Depot Corporation", I observed many negatives and positives in the organization. First I would like to mention the fact that Home Depot, was the number one home improvement chain in the United States at one point, so this shows that it was a demand for the business at one point. I 'm sure this was the primary measurement that the business was felling and that they needed to make some changes. This should have been a motivator to the organization to try to regain that spot again. In order to make a drastic change of this sort, they would have needed all hands on deck, throughout all of the layers in the company.
The Millennial group demonstrates unique personalities that the Baby Boomer may not display. The main groups The Home Depot is targeting are the do-it-yourselfers, do-it-for-me, and the professional customers. (Bowman, 2016) The millennial audience, which makes up the majority of the first 2 groups, is looking for products and services to help them renovate, help with maintenance, or decorate their home. They need assistance with this because they are first time home owners and have little to no knowledge of these products or services.
A brand is utilized by a company to differentiate its products from others in the market. Some techniques for accomplishing this are through the use of distinguishing logos, names, color schemes, and slogans. An effective branding strategy is one of the most important components for gaining a significant advantage in a progressive market. Basically, a company brand is its promise to its customers about what can be expected from its product and how it differentiates from the competitors. The branding strategy is the part of the marketing plan that explains how and to whom the company proposes on conveying its brand messages. It will also explain where the company plans to advertise and what it will publicize both visually and verbally (Williams, 2013). Home Depot’s marketing plan will contain domestic and global branding strategies and will be a collaboration of brand messages from both Home Depot and Reach the Top®.
Since the home improvement market is highly competitive, Lowe’s needs to apply the best strategies to deal with Home Depot’s rivalry. This rivalry is as a result of the identical nature of the products handles by the two companies. The company should structure its distribution framework to pull down costs as the firm adjusts to changes in demand. The company should set a 6-month budget for research and development projects. To outperform Home Depot, Lowe’s should seek to expand its in-store services as well as the international operations.
Societal needs of designing and delivering products and services that can better serve a more sustainable environment.
The primary goal of The Walt Disney Company is to become one of the world’s leading producers and providers of not only entertainment, but also information (The Walt Disney Company, 2014). The company aims to achieve this by utilizing its immense brand portfolio so as to differentiate services, content, and consumer products. While this is the overall goal, there exist other innate milestones that essentially touch on socially responsible business in enhancing sustainability. They include, but are not limited to; zero net greenhouse gas emissions, whereby the company aims to have reduced net greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2020; zero waste, whereby Walt Disney hopes to achieve a 60% reduction in waste from