Competitors
The Home Depot is the largest retail home improvement business in the world, the fourth largest overall retailer in the United States, and the fifth largest retailer in the world. The only significant competition that they have within the industry is Lowe’s Companies. It is a constant rival between the two companies, even though Home Depot has always been on top. Prior to conducting research on Home Depot, I was under the impression that Menards was a much bigger threat to Home Depot than what it actually is. In addition to Home Depots large competitor (Lowes), they have many small competitors as well. Together these smaller competitors such as Menards, Lumber Liquidators, Ace, True Value, and many local (mom and pop stores) home improvement retailers make up a decent portion of the overall industry market share. Fortunately for Home Depot, many of its smaller competitors are unable to match prices, amount of product selection, and/or have well known strategic alliances. The only advantage that small competitors have over Home Depot is customer’s tradition and is some cases convenience. The more Home Depot expands to more areas, the more opportunity they will have to win over more customers. On the other hand their biggest advantage over small competition is that Home Depot will stand a better chance at enduring and surviving an economic downturn. Even though Home Depot is highly vulnerable to interest rates and has suffered from the housing market slowdown, they have still managed to succeed over all of its competitors.
What differentiates Home Depot in the marketplace:
-Introduced one of the best lineups of top brand lawn tractors and mowers including brands such as Cub Cadet®, Toro®, John Deere® and Honda®
-Enhanced their outdoor living products and included brands such as Hampton Bay patio and Charmglow grills
-Offering exclusive Milwaukee®, RIDGID and Makita® lithium-ion power tools
-Being the first to offer a variety of products such as the LG® SteamWasher™ and the Maytag® Epic™ washer and dryer.
See Youtube video below demonstrating competition between Home Depot and Lowes
-Introduced one of the best lineups of top brand lawn tractors and mowers including brands such as Cub Cadet®, Toro®, John Deere® and Honda®
-Enhanced their outdoor living products and included brands such as Hampton Bay patio and Charmglow grills
-Offering exclusive Milwaukee®, RIDGID and Makita® lithium-ion power tools
-Being the first to offer a variety of products such as the LG® SteamWasher™ and the Maytag® Epic™ washer and dryer.
See Youtube video below demonstrating competition between Home Depot and Lowes