SWOT Analysis Of Lowe's, Home Depot And Wolseley PLC

Buying Power. Customers have a slight advantage since other retailers offering similar items. The way Lowe’s can separate them from the competition is to offer a product mix that appeals to both male and female needs.

One threat to SHLD is its competition with many retailers because it is not very differentiated from its competitors and lacks brand loyalty, thus nothing is stopping the customer from overlooking Sears and visiting a rival retailer. Another threat is a downturn in the economy which could wreck havoc on SHLD’s financial position.

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

While Lowes has a smaller debt-to-asset ratio (~.64 compared to Home Depot’s ~.69) and a smaller debt-to-equity ratio (~1.76 compared to Home Depot’s ~2.24), the future liquidity and solvency of the company could come into question due to Lowes’s low current ratio, which has consistently trended downward, dropping from ~1.28 to ~1.16, over the past three years.

The retail market for home décor is very competitive. There are a variety of stores and catalog retailers that offer similar merchandise. Major players in the industry include Bed, Bath & Beyond, Cost Plus, World Market, and Williams-Sonoma. Specialty sections of large department stores also provide competition. Opportunities in retail home décor include attracting viewers from television networks, specializing in home décor. Home & Garden (HGTV) and the Do it Yourself (DIY) network are two examples of networks that encourage interior home design by the novice. Retail home décor products are often featured on television networks which provide a way to market their merchandise to consumers. Threats to the industry include an increasing number of home décor retailers that provide competition. In addition, wholesale clubs contain home décor departments which have a tendency towards lower prices. The current energy crisis, sub-prime mortgage debacle, and increasing unemployment rates also pose a threat to the industry.

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 has entered into the Canadian and Australian market in attempts to gain unclaimed market shares. It has not gained enough traction in the Australian market but has done well in Canada. Lowe’s should focus more on expansion in Canada because of the strong need for Home Improvement stores. Lowe’s has the opportunity to gain more market share by developing a mobile application that allows users to view all items offered and what deals are taking place. Customer service is a top priority in any retail industry, Lowe’s needs to improve this dramatically. Lowe’s needs knowledgeable, friendly-staff that go beyond just showing a customer where a product is in the store. By doing so, Lowe’s will retain more customers and its competitors will lose shares of the market.

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

To analyze the home improvement warehouse store competitive environment, we use the Five Forces model to evaluate five crucial competitive aspects: selling rivalry, supplier resources, buyer power, outside industry substitutes, and the threat of new entrants to the marketplace.

Home Depot and Lowe's believe in big warehouse space, an informal atmosphere and low prices. They are able to offer the lower prices to consumers due to their purchasing power. Inventory differs depending on the story type, home centers typically sock more lumber and building supplies, as their biggest customers are contractors. They pay their floor employees minimum wage, and keep overall costs down by keeping them as part time employees.

The first company that will be analyzed is Home Depot. Home Depot's total assets increased to $40,518 million from $40,125, an increase of 0.9%. These figures, however, are lower than the value of total assets on the books for HD for the prior three years. The 2008 fiscal year was the point where Home Depot had the highest asset levels at $44.324 billion. The recession has been the biggest culprit for the decline in the size of Home Depot. All of the firms in the building supplies industry have a strong relationship between their sales and the strength of the housing market, as home purchases are a major impetus for home renovation projects. Home Depot's size declined with the onset of slowness in the housing market, and it is expected that its size will not begin to increase until the housing market recovers. Home Depot management has noted that there are signs of life in the US housing market, and that this should be taken as an encouraging sign for the company (Isidore, 2012). Indeed, the company's balance sheet has grown in size throughout the 2013 fiscal year, so that the latest Q3 total

Dell and Home Depot, the largest organizations in their field, have had to initiate new corporate images to sustain competitive advantages over their leading competitors. By learning their customers’ needs and preparing a marketing strategy to incorporate a variety of segments, each has entered the marketing era with diverse products and a dynamic marketing environment.

Target Corporation main competitors are Walmart and Sears. While Walmart is leading their industry of major retail chains, Target is not far behind as they are currently ranked second amongst the major retail chains. In order to maintain their growth and competitive advantage, Target needs to pay close attention to their competitor’s market share, product quality and the unique selling proposition in comparison to their own. In order to maintain their position in the market, Target should be analyzing the external factors of their competition using metrics that will allow them to use that information to set objectives, rate their own performance, and plan for future success for the organization.

Home Depot’s current marketing strategy includes offering low prices, quality products and services, advertising, and integrating the firm’s online presence with the brick-and-mortar experience (Home Depot, n.d., para. 2). According to Home Depot strives to be competitive with its pricing and offers a price guarantee, stating that it will meet and beat a competitor’s price. Home Depot (n.d.) states that the firm also promises to offer quality products and services and an effortless customer experience (para. 2). Finally, Home Depot improves the shopping experience and drives sales by integrating its website and application with its brick-and-mortar stores.