Swot Analysis Of Lowes

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)

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

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

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.

While Lowes and Home Depot follow similar differentiation and low cost strategies, there are a few differences in marketing due to the fact that Lowes seems to be more targeted towards women with bright and colorful displays, wide aisles and product stacking that is lower and easier to reach (Clemons, 2012). While this is a calculated decision because women make 80% of home improvement decisions, it may distract from growth in the contractor business since the vast majority of home improvement professionals are men. The advantage shifts toward Home Depot since men also spend thirty five percent more than women on home improvement supplies therefore, attracting men may actually be more efficient in terms of return of investment (Goodfellow, 2013). The ability to quickly locate products and return to work is a tremendous advantage for contractors who would prefer to be on the job instead of leisurely strolling the aisles of a store while examining multitudes of options. This may be a major component of Home Depot’s rebound since they derive a larger percentage of their sales from professionals and the rebounding housing markets and rebuilding efforts from Hurricane Sandy have introduced significant cash flow into the industry (Cheng, 2013).

Home Depot has clearly set itself up to be successful in the recent upswing in the housing markets. Their technology upgrade has proven to be successful in keeping stores stocked and employees more engaged with helping the customers.

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.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is the fourteenth largest retailer in America, and overall the world’s second largest home improvement retailer. They are the 108th ranked corporation on the Fortune 500 top corporations list. With an impressive in store stock of 40,000 home improvement items on hand, ranging from lumber to Home décor items, plus an additional 400,000 home improvement items available through a special order program. Lowe’s provides a onetime stop for all home improvement needs, for both the Do-It-Yourselfer, and the ever-expanding market of the Commercial Business Customer.

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 deems that having diversity is key to being a good corporate citizen. Lowe’s has the opportunity to deliver outstanding prices, products and services to their customers. Lowe’s believes that they take it one step farther than any other company. Lowes’ thinks that with community involvement that they extend beyond the traditional retail setting. Like Home Depot, Lowe’s gives back the their community however, they are known to help in natural disaster recovery and take active roles in programs

The first Lowe's store, Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware, was first opened in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina in 1921 by Lucius Smith Lowe (1879 - 1940).[7][8][9] After Lowe died in 1940, the business was inherited by his daughter Ruth, who sold the company to her brother Jim that same year. Jim took on Carl Buchan as a partner in 1943.[10]

Lowe’s has done a great job over the years of scanning their competitive environment and establishing themselves as the second leader in market share for the home improvement industry. It is important for Lowe’s to fully understand the direct competitors as well as their indirect competition. This paper is going to take an in depth look at Sears, one of Lowe’s biggest indirect competitors, but it is important to keep in mind that Lowe’s has many indirect competitors. Sears has over 7,000 service technicians handling over thirteen million service and installation calls annually. Customers can obtain a wide array of products within the lawn and garden, consumer electronics and heating and cooling systems.

Lowe’s, and other home improvement businesses, serve three types of customers; the Do-It-Yourself customer that is the individual who completes their own projects and installations. The Do-It-For-Me

Home Depots functional strategies are in many ways similar to Lowes. However essential differences, while they are not always clear do exist between these competitors. The human resources strategy of Home Depot is more prevalent than Lowes in my estimation. Home Depot has an offering to contractors with advanced knowledge. The experience curve for employees does exist for this industry.

By the end of 1913 the company introduces the very popular brand known as Kenmore. After the launch of this brand the company begins to bring in tons of more revenue and decides to create a savings and profit sharing funds for Sears employees. But a thing to remember is that Sears did not actually open a retail store until 1925 that was located a few miles outside of Chicago. In 1931 Sears went into another