Home Depot expands pro offerings with digital project planner
The Home Depot’s latest effort to better service professional customers focuses on project management.
In an email to Chain Store Age, Home Depot said it is launching a new Project Planning tool. This digital platform is designed to streamline how professional renovators, remodelers and specialty tradespeople plan, manage and execute complex projects.
The tool enables pros to manage every phase of their projects on one platform through a single supplier and brings together the entire Home Depot product assortment. This assortment includes all items available in stores and fulfillment centers, appliances, and specialty items like decking and windows.
Pros can collaborate with their Home Depot support team in real time also obtain real-time access to the following features:
- Comprehensive materials lists for all projects and organize by the various phases of a project, by room, or by category. Users can also save lists as templates to streamline reordering.
- Consolidated view of all project-related transactions, including order and digital delivery tracking.
- Users can set job site instructions, business hours and delivery preferences for each project for a tailored delivery experience.
- Early visibility into pricing and inventory availability.
- Multi-user collaboration among pros and their crews.
“Our Project Planning tool makes it easier than ever for our Pro customers to plan, purchase and monitor the status of their complex projects – all backed by the full power of The Home Depot’s product assortment and expertise,” said Mike Rowe, executive VP of pro for The Home Depot. “The average Pro works with 10 or more suppliers on a single job. We’re in a unique position to simplify this process and will continue to expand our digital tools to meet the evolving needs of Pros.”
Project Planning is available to all Home Depot Pro customers through the Pro Online Experience platform.
Home Depot serves pro customers
Home Depot has been making a concerted effort to obtain the business of home improvement industry professionals. Some examples in the past 12 months or so include:
- The acquisition of GMS Inc. through its specialty trade distribution subsidiary, SRS Distribution Inc. GMS is a leading distributor of specialty building products including drywall, ceilings, steel framing and other complementary products related to remodeling and construction projects in residential and commercial end markets.
- Teaming up with StrataTech Education Group (StrataTech), an operator of skilled trade schools, to expand its Path to Pro program, which aims to educate more people in the skilled trades and help them find careers in the home improvement industry.
- Opening four new distribution centers geared toward serving pro customers in Detroit, southern Los Angeles, San Antonio and Toronto. The centers stock large, bulky merchandise such as lumber, insulation and roofing shingles.
[READ MORE: Home Depot expands loyalty perks for professional customers]
Atlanta-based The Home Depot operates more than 2,350 retail stores, over 800 branches and more than 325 distribution centers that directly fulfill customer orders across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico.
