勞氏一直被戲稱為其競爭對手家得寶的小弟。
盡管這家家居裝修零售商數(shù)年來的銷售增速一直不及家得寶,但公司取得的一些重大進(jìn)展也開始讓這一觀念煙消云散。不妨看看這個最新的證據(jù):勞氏在8月19日公布,截至7月31日季度的美國店面可比銷售業(yè)績增長了35%,甚至比家得寶上周早些時候公布的25%增速更高。
盡管這兩家公司明顯受益于數(shù)千萬美國民眾的居家生活以及家居改造項目,但勞氏也壯大了自己的事業(yè)部門,最為顯著的便是完善其電商服務(wù)。線上銷售在本季度飆升了135%,如今占到總銷售額的8%:這個數(shù)字依然低于家得寶,但一年前僅有約4%。(家得寶的線上銷售占比約為20%。)
自首席執(zhí)行官馬文?艾利森兩年前執(zhí)掌以來,勞氏按部就班地開展了一些幕后工作,例如為其電商網(wǎng)站另尋平臺,將其連接至谷歌云,并提升了其穩(wěn)定性。艾利森說,既然這些舉措如今基本上都已完成,勞氏網(wǎng)站下個階段的工作就是增加更多面向客戶的功能,例如單次點(diǎn)擊結(jié)賬,客戶規(guī)劃或調(diào)整交貨時間的能力,以及提供更好的平面造型。
他說:“關(guān)鍵在于改善客戶的前端體驗?!眲谑厦媾R的另一個問題是其相對于家得寶的在線受歡迎程度較為落后。eMarketer稱,家得寶是排名第五的電商公司,前四位分別是亞馬遜、eBay、沃爾瑪和蘋果。
家得寶的線上商品種類是勞氏的四倍,但艾利森并沒有在網(wǎng)站上添加更多的商品,除非他認(rèn)為網(wǎng)站有能力去承接。他說:“網(wǎng)站的運(yùn)行非常羸弱,但在過去的6個月中我們增加了不少商品。”
2021年店面會增加更多的產(chǎn)品,而且勞氏也會開發(fā)新的類目,按照艾利森的說法,這些新類目出現(xiàn)在家居裝修連鎖店中可能會出乎人們的意料,但他并沒有透露到底是什么產(chǎn)品。家得寶已經(jīng)成功地增添了家庭軟裝產(chǎn)品,并增添了玩具和假日裝飾產(chǎn)品,以利用黑五這類大型假日季。
盡管勞氏的業(yè)務(wù)正處于蒸蒸日上的時期,但艾利森表示,進(jìn)軍非核心門類的舉措要等到明年才會開展。他說:“我們當(dāng)前并沒有這么做的原因在于,我們的核心門類產(chǎn)品仍有機(jī)會?!彼e了一個例子:“Lowes.com缺乏深度,網(wǎng)站需要更多的產(chǎn)品類目,例如工具、照明燈。”
第二季度,勞氏在其長期以來落后于家得寶的市場取得了重大突破,最為突出的是專業(yè)承包市場和城市店面。艾利森說,其中很大一部分來自于勞氏有限的數(shù)字力量。城市居民和承包商尤其依賴于強(qiáng)有力的線上產(chǎn)品。因此,勞氏開始有針對性地解決這些問題的舉措將在長期內(nèi)提振公司的業(yè)績。他說:“當(dāng)你看到公司城市地區(qū)的業(yè)績出現(xiàn)像第二季度的明顯改善時,它將提振整個公司的生產(chǎn)效率?!保ㄘ敻恢形木W(wǎng))
譯者:Feb
勞氏一直被戲稱為其競爭對手家得寶的小弟。
盡管這家家居裝修零售商數(shù)年來的銷售增速一直不及家得寶,但公司取得的一些重大進(jìn)展也開始讓這一觀念煙消云散。不妨看看這個最新的證據(jù):勞氏在8月19日公布,截至7月31日季度的美國店面可比銷售業(yè)績增長了35%,甚至比家得寶上周早些時候公布的25%增速更高。
盡管這兩家公司明顯受益于數(shù)千萬美國民眾的居家生活以及家居改造項目,但勞氏也壯大了自己的事業(yè)部門,最為顯著的便是完善其電商服務(wù)。線上銷售在本季度飆升了135%,如今占到總銷售額的8%:這個數(shù)字依然低于家得寶,但一年前僅有約4%。(家得寶的線上銷售占比約為20%。)
自首席執(zhí)行官馬文?艾利森兩年前執(zhí)掌以來,勞氏按部就班地開展了一些幕后工作,例如為其電商網(wǎng)站另尋平臺,將其連接至谷歌云,并提升了其穩(wěn)定性。艾利森說,既然這些舉措如今基本上都已完成,勞氏網(wǎng)站下個階段的工作就是增加更多面向客戶的功能,例如單次點(diǎn)擊結(jié)賬,客戶規(guī)劃或調(diào)整交貨時間的能力,以及提供更好的平面造型。
他說:“關(guān)鍵在于改善客戶的前端體驗。”勞氏面臨的另一個問題是其相對于家得寶的在線受歡迎程度較為落后。eMarketer稱,家得寶是排名第五的電商公司,前四位分別是亞馬遜、eBay、沃爾瑪和蘋果。
家得寶的線上商品種類是勞氏的四倍,但艾利森并沒有在網(wǎng)站上添加更多的商品,除非他認(rèn)為網(wǎng)站有能力去承接。他說:“網(wǎng)站的運(yùn)行非常羸弱,但在過去的6個月中我們增加了不少商品?!?/p>
2021年店面會增加更多的產(chǎn)品,而且勞氏也會開發(fā)新的類目,按照艾利森的說法,這些新類目出現(xiàn)在家居裝修連鎖店中可能會出乎人們的意料,但他并沒有透露到底是什么產(chǎn)品。家得寶已經(jīng)成功地增添了家庭軟裝產(chǎn)品,并增添了玩具和假日裝飾產(chǎn)品,以利用黑五這類大型假日季。
盡管勞氏的業(yè)務(wù)正處于蒸蒸日上的時期,但艾利森表示,進(jìn)軍非核心門類的舉措要等到明年才會開展。他說:“我們當(dāng)前并沒有這么做的原因在于,我們的核心門類產(chǎn)品仍有機(jī)會?!彼e了一個例子:“Lowes.com缺乏深度,網(wǎng)站需要更多的產(chǎn)品類目,例如工具、照明燈?!?/p>
第二季度,勞氏在其長期以來落后于家得寶的市場取得了重大突破,最為突出的是專業(yè)承包市場和城市店面。艾利森說,其中很大一部分來自于勞氏有限的數(shù)字力量。城市居民和承包商尤其依賴于強(qiáng)有力的線上產(chǎn)品。因此,勞氏開始有針對性地解決這些問題的舉措將在長期內(nèi)提振公司的業(yè)績。他說:“當(dāng)你看到公司城市地區(qū)的業(yè)績出現(xiàn)像第二季度的明顯改善時,它將提振整個公司的生產(chǎn)效率?!保ㄘ敻恢形木W(wǎng))
譯者:Feb
Lowe's has long been derided as a weaker version of its bigger rival Home Depot.
But the home improvement retailer has been making big strides in beginning to dispel that notion after years of underperforming Home Depot in sales growth. The latest evidence: Lowe's on Wednesday reported comparable sales at its U.S. stores rose 35% in the quarter ended July 31. That was even better than Home Depot's 25% increase reported earlier this week.
While both companies have clearly benefited from tens of millions of Americans being homebound and working on house projects, Lowe's has helped its own cause, most notably in fixing its e-commerce. Online sales rose 135% in the quarter and are now 8% of total sales: that's still below Home Depot but compares to about 4% only a year ago. (At Home Depot, it's about 20%.)
Since CEO Marvin Ellison took the reins two years ago, Lowe's has undertaken the nerdy behind-the-scenes work of re-platforming its e-commerce site, connecting it to Google cloud and making it more stable. Ellison says that now that those efforts are largely done, the next phase for Lowe's site will be to add more customer-facing features such as one-click checkout, the ability for customers to schedule or change a delivery time and better graphic.
"It's going to be all about improving customer experience on the front end," he says. Another issue for Lowe's is its online selection compared to that of Home Depot, which according to eMarketer is the No. 5 U.S. e-commerce company after Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Apple.
Home Depot's online assortment is about four times greater than Lowe's, and Ellison has held off adding more to Lowes.com until he felt the site could handle it. "We were functioning so poorly but in the last six months we've added a lot," he says.
And more assortment is also coming to stores coming in 2021, with Lowe's set to dive into new categories Ellison says people might not expect to see at a home improvement chain, though he declined to say what those would be. Home Depot has successfully added categories like soft home furnishings as well as sought to capitalize on big events like Black Friday by adding toys and holiday decorations.
Yet as much as Lowe's is gaining momentum, Ellison says forays into non-core categories can wait until next year. "The reason we are not doing that right now is because we have opportunities in our core categories," he says. "Lowes.com lacks depth- it needs more items like tools, lightning," he notes as an example.
Lowe's made big breakthroughs in the second quarter in markets where it has long lagged Home Depot, most notably the professional contract market and city stores. A big part of that, Ellison says, has stemmed from Lowe's limited digital prowess. City dwellers and contractors in particular are reliant on a strong online offering. So cracking those nuts, as Lowe's has begun to, will provide boost Lowe's for a long time. "When you get improvements like you saw in the second quarter in urban areas, it's going to drive productivity for the whole company," he says.