Hardware/Home Improvement
The hardware and home improvement info express

Hardware/ Home Improvement AceHardware.com HomeDepot.com Lowes.com RepairClinic.com Rockler.com

Once someone has the tools and the materials for a home improvement project, what more is needed? Advice.

Do-it-yourselfers, handymen and sometimes even seasoned contractors face all kinds of questions and challenges when working on projects of all shapes and sizes. And when questions arise, they need a reliable pro to provide guidance. This is the role many online hardware and home improvement retailers are trying to fill in a way that helps customers and sells more merchandise.

HomeDepot.com customers have made it clear to the e-retailing giant that the Internet is their No. 1 source when conducting home improvement research. Home Depot wants to make sure its e-commerce site is the place they go for help, and it employs various ways of keeping customers happy. The site displays images of what rooms can look like, and then provides illustrated step-by-step instruction guides and videos. It also includes video product demonstrations. And if customers need a more hands-on approach, they can use a search by Zip code feature that shows them the nearest Home Depot store holding educational clinics.

Ace Hardware does much the same on its site. It offers interactive how-to and advice features, such as paint tips and lawn and garden advice, as well as product learning guides. Like Home Depot, Ace also has a way to get online shoppers into stores: It offers free shipping on all items--if a customer picks merchandise up at his local Ace Hardware store. The web site directs shoppers to their closest Ace via a Zip code tool.

On par with its competitors, Lowes.com wants to be the source for hardware and home improvement shoppers. Lowe's says the biggest goal for its web site is to be a resource for customers who are researching and shopping. The company has added videos and animated product demonstrations, and warehouses a library of information on how-to projects.

Though a smaller player, Rockler.com is of the same mind. The site emphasizes content and information over zing and bling, offering, for example, a woodworking blog with articles, product reviews and how-to information.

From web to store

AceHardware.com would love to answer these and other questions for their customers and encourage them to use its web site in planning and buying for their home improvement projects. Most importantly, Ace wants them to visit their local Ace stores.

A recent overhaul of the Oak Brook, Ill., company's web site was aimed at familiarizing consumers with the Ace name and giving them reason to frequent one of Ace's almost 5,000 stores.

"Our goal was to represent our brand better and to really make the local stores come to life online," says Dana Kevish, e-commerce marketing manager.

The web site attempts to accomplish that goal by replicating the in-store experience and motivating customers to visit those stores.

"They have a more robust store locator," says Sucharita Mulpuru, principal retail analyst with Forrester Research, Inc. "And they're really trying to bring the store experience to the web."

Besides offering a bevy of interactive how-to and advice features, like paint tips, lawn and garden advice, a feature called the "helpful hardware man" and product learning guides, the newly configured site offers free shipping--if customers are willing to pick up their purchases at a local Ace store.

And many are. Kevish says 74% of Ace's online sales are shipped to stores for customer pick-up. "Our goal is to drive that traffic into stores," she says. An important reason: 35% of those store visits result in additional purchases.

Even as special promotions in rich color rotate on the home page, the push is to promote the local stores. Atop the page is an invitation to "Find your local Ace." On the right is a prominent message, "There's an Ace store near you," along with the news of free shipping "to your local Ace."

To reinforce that connection, a visitor to the site who has previously entered a ZIP code is greeted with an image of the nearest Ace store each time he signs on. Back to Top

Selling know-how

"Customers tell us their number one source for home improvement research is the Internet," says Greg Foglesong, general manager of Home Depot Direct, the online unit of Atlanta-based The Home Depot Inc. "We've looked very hard at how we can fill customers' needs in that area."

That starts with inspiration, using the site to show what's possible, Foglesong says. "What could my bathroom look like? What are the latest styles, the most fashion-forward colors?"

Then the site shows how to get the job done, with illustrated step-by-step installation guides and videos on a variety of topics. Customers also can search by ZIP code to find clinics at Home Depot stores near their homes.

HomeDepot.com increasingly uses video to demonstrate products. Its video grill selector was selected by consumers as the best of five rich media implementations from e-commerce sites in a test this spring by Usability Sciences Corp., a consulting firm focused on how consumers interact with web sites.

Besides providing information, Home Depot uses its web site to complement store product selection.

"Our stores may sell 10 patio sets, but if you go to HomeDepot.com you'll find a dramatically expanded selection," Foglesong says. "And if you need an extra chair for a set you bought in a store, you can buy that, or if you want a different cushion a selector offers expanded options."

With more than 40,000 SKUs on the site, navigation is important. And HomeDepot.com does a good job of helping customers narrow their search by product category, price and brand, says Scott Kincaid, vice president of usability practices at Usability Sciences. He also likes that the faceted search feature shows how many products are available in each sub-category, such as faucets under $50. But Kincaid found the price buckets were sliced too thin, so that a visitor might have to click several times to see all the products he's interested in. Back to Top

Shopping and education

"Our primary goal is to be a source of information for customers when they're researching and shopping," says Ames Flynn, vice president of e-commerce and special orders. "We want to be more inspirational, not just utilitarian."

Over the past year, Lowes has been adding richer content, such as videos and animated product demonstrations. It also provides product guides as well as How-To library projects and ideas for do-it-yourselfers. In early November, for example, the site presented information on buying a Christmas tree--the pros and cons of real versus artificial trees. It also offered a guide on holiday wreaths and other decorating tips.

"Lowes is an icon and I would expect them to have a really good site," says Kim Painley, president of Kinetic Marketing Consultants. "They do a great job of going beyond just selling things."

But while Lowes works to educate and inspire customers, the multi-channel retailer also has taken steps to make the actual shopping experience easier, Flynn says. It has improved site navigation and expanded product descriptions to include more detailed information about a product. Lowes also will be adding customer reviews to its consumer ratings section on each product page.

In addition, Lowes added a third party tool enabling shoppers to rotate and zoom in on product, giving them a better view. Lowes.com also reworked its shopping cart, reducing the steps to checkout by providing estimated tax and shipping information on the shopping cart page. And any promotions specific to a product, such as free shipping, appear on the page.

Lowes also promotes extended warranties for appliances and other products on the shopping cart page, a move that has resulted in a higher percentage of warranties being sold online than in stores, Flynn says.

"Considering the fact they're covering a lot of territory, they do it very well," Painley says. Back to Top

Pay heed to this speed

RepairClinic.com does this job so well that a newfangled hardware store--Home Depot--has inked a deal making RepairClinic.com its appliance parts arm. Go to ApplianceRepair.HomeDepot.com and there's a co-branded version of the RepairClinic.com site (the guy in the blue shirt, however, is instead wearing a Home Depot orange apron).

The appliance world includes about 1 million parts. Canton, Mich.-based RepairClinic.com stocks 30,000, which covers about 95% of its orders, and promises next-day delivery for most. The e-retailer can special order any of the other 970,000, adding only a few days to shipping.

The genius of RepairClinic.com is the PartsDetective, a tool that helps customers zero in on whatever obscure part they need. If shoppers know the model number of the appliance for which they're seeking a part, great--the process is lightning fast. But it's the system's ability to help shoppers with little idea what they're looking for that shines. Select from drill-down lists the brand, appliance type, approximate length and, if known, part type, and odds are within 10 seconds a shopper has their part.

The site also features RepairGuru, a storehouse of appliance information both general and specific. And customers can e-mail the RepairGuru any questions not already answered on the site.

"It's almost a self-help site as much as an e-commerce site," says Sucharita Mulpuru, principal analyst at Forrester Research. "It really guides you through the repair process."

RepairClinic.com president Chris Hall doesn't know what effect the Home Depot pairing will have on his business. "I don't know if it will mean 10% growth or 100%, or what," he says. But just to be safe, RepairClinic.com has streamlined and automated its entire fulfillment process so it can handle triple the volume without significantly expanding staff. Hall expects any extra manpower will go to enhance the RepairGuru service. Back to Top

Content beats pizzazz

Customers showed little interest in buying the lumber, perhaps because of its price. Yet the visual caught their eye, and they remained on the site far longer than usual. So much so that Rockler kept running the cedar image for more than a month. Typically, the Medina, Minn.-based Rockler changes visuals on its home page every week.

The way Rockler switched tactics with the cedar promotion reflects the nimbleness of the company in adjusting its web site to appeal to customers, many of whom go to Rockler for help with woodworking projects.

"We do testing on the home page to see what sells," says Scott Ekman, Rockler's vice president of marketing. "We track conversion rates, and we always strive for incremental gains."

The company recently upgraded its site search with technology from Progress EasyAsk. Results are more comprehensive and relevant, and delivered five to 10 times faster, leading to a 30% improvement in conversion rate, Ekman says.

The web site emphasizes content and information over style and pizzazz. There are no rich media or videos. "We try to give customers really good information so they can build their projects," explains Ekman.

The site's woodworking blog, for instance, includes short articles, product reviews, how-to information, and advice on esoteric techniques and projects. A recent post provided advice on making butterfly joints.

"They have all sorts of project ideas, articles and occasionally podcasts to help inspire customers with their home projects," says Sucharita Mulpuru, principal analyst with Boston-based Forrester Research Inc. "All of the content is with a very pointed objective to inspire customers and, hopefully, get them to embark upon a project."

A quick-order form on the home page lets visitors order up to three catalog items without flipping through other pages. Scrolling over top navigation bar tabs produces a list of sub-categories.

"We try to keep the site very straightforward and focus on the customer," says Ekman. Back to Top