Lowe's Business Activities Essay

The Home Depot and Lowes are very similar when it comes to the 4 P’s of marketing. Their prices are very similar and they even offer the same low price guarantee when compared to local competitors. When it comes to promotion The Home Depot spent $793.7 million dollars on advertisements in 2014 (Home Depot: Ad spend, n.d.). Lowes

Lastly, in the highly competitive market in the United States today, Lowe’s faces a number of various threats. Obviously the main threat to Lowe’s is the competition from other home improvement retailers, with Home Depot posing the biggest threat. Technological advancement, while having the ability to better a retailer, can also pose a threat because other companies may know how to utilize technology in a more efficient way in order to promote their businesses. Government regulations and taxes also serve as a threat to the retailer. For example, products carried by Lowe’s must pass various types of tests before being put out on the market for consumers to purchase. Such regulations costs the company

Lowe’s is a home improvement warehouse that was founded in 1946 as a single store and since has grown to become the second largest in the world. As technology has evolved, Lowe’s has made many advances incorporating new systems and devices to stay competitive. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the information technology management systems used at Lowe’s. It will look at Porter’s Five Force Model, supply chain management; data base management system, five agent-based technologies, e-commerce and system development lifecycle. Furthermore, it will look at business continuity planning, emerging trends and security vulnerabilities relates to the organization to remain competitive.

The growing trend of home improvement has perpetuated a larger demand for box store home improvement shops such as Home Depot and Lowe’s. There are several types of companies that contribute to the booming renovation industry. Home Depot and Lowe’s provide all the

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)

Lowe’s entered in the Canada in 2007 and in recent times, it has 34 stores all over the Canada. In addition, Rona is a Canadian based chain that has 79 big box locations and around 700 small stores across the country. Lowe’s has shown interest in acquiring Rona, but it withdrew its friend offer for Rona takeover. Some analysts believe that the move to Rona hostile takeover would be appropriate for the company.

Lowe’s also offers several development opportunities and resources through the company’s Generous Tuition Reimbursement Program, Certified CPE course offerings, Management Development programs through the Lowe’s Leadership Institute, and skill and competence development courses (“Learning and Developing”, n.d.). The Home Depot continues to give raises, bonuses, and develop and promote employees with good work ethics. Home Depot typically promotes from within the company.

Lowe’s is continuously being threatened by Home Depot in losing market shares. It is a constant battle; Lowe’s and Home Depot are expanding substantially in attempts to take over territory claimed by the other as well as unclaimed territory. The biggest weakness for Lowe’s is its lack of customer service. Customers are leaving Lowe’s in search of credible, knowledgeable service which is found at Home Depot.

Lowe’s is part of an oligopoly type market structure. An oligopoly is a situation in which a particular market is controlled by a small group of firms with at least two firms controlling the market. The main key to behavior in an oligopoly is that companies must take into account what other companies will do. In perfect competition, firms are price-takers and can ignore other firms (Basic Economics, 2009). The home improvement retail stores are an industry that includes Home Depot, Lowe’s, Builders Square, and in other states, Menards.  Smaller companies have to try to compete with them to stay in business.

The home improvement sector of the economy is large with two major players in the industry and with many smaller local and regional competitors. These two major competitors are Home Depot and Lowe’s. These two companies account for over $110 billion in total sales each year. Even though sales have gone down over the past few years due to the downturn in the economy they have not gone down nearly as much as home sales and this is due to more people deciding to do more home improvements to their own home then buying a new home. Both of these companies have been able to keep up sales and increase them year over year by improving current

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

Lowe’s Companies, Inc., is a $26.5 billion company that employs 122,000 people. It is the world’s second largest home improvement retailer and the 14th largest retailer in the United States as well as the 30th worldwide. Lowe’s owns 854 stores in 44 states and serves eight million do-it-yourself and commercial customers weekly. Headquartered in Wilkesboro, N.C., Lowe’s has been in business for 57 years and publicly held for 41 with stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LOW. The company offers products and services in home improvement, home décor, home maintenance, home repair and remodeling and lawn and garden.

Lowe’s is famous for supplying customers with appliances to improve their homes since 1942; this speaks an indirect meaning to the warehouses slogan “Never Stop Improving”.

The Company operates retail stores and call centers, and conducts online retail operations. Home Depot is considered a service based business. Home depot depends on people and the client experience and it also targets different markets in general.

Farfan, B. (2014). Company Mission Statements - Complete List of World’s Largest Retail Missions. Retrieved October 13, 2014, from about money: http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retailbestpractices/ig/Company-Mission-Statements/Lowe-s-Mission-Statement.htm