Technology
Home Depot SVP on building a seamless shopping experience
Angie Brown, SVP of technology at The Home Depot, shares the retailer's view of technology and how it's aiming to create and deliver an interconnected experience for customers no matter where or how they choose to shop.
March 7, 2023 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com
Retailers across the board are deploying and implementing innovative technology in a quest to both attack and engage customers as well as increase loyalty within its consumer base.
The Home Depot is one of the home improvement retailers doing just that.
In mid-2022 the retailer underwent two major initiatives.
It deployed the Adobe customer data platform to get a deeper view of customer journeys and to enhance the omnichannel experience. The technology will allow the home improvement retailer to deliver personalized campaigns within 24 hours, a strategy which previously took seven to 10 days to deliver.
The retailer also underwent a network refresh at its North American stores with longtime technology partner Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. It deployed the Aruba Edge Service Platform via HPE's GreenLake, a network-as-a-service, to foster an advanced customer and associate experience driven by the platform's cloud-native approach. In addition, the retailer is rolling out Zebra Technologies' TC52ax handheld devices which let associates quickly check pricing and inventory availability.
One of its most recent CX initiatives arrived at the very start of 2023 when Home Depot expanded its Pro Xtra loyalty program with additional membership tiers and benefits for professional contractors and builders.
To learn what's next in CX for Home Depot, RetailCustomerExperience reached out to Angie Brown, SVP of technology, for insight on what the retailer is striving for when it comes to improving, enhancing and boosting the retail customer experience.
Brown moved into her role of SVP in May of 2022, 24 years after she first joined the company as an entry level developer. Over the last few decades, she has held a variety of roles in multiple areas of the company's technology organization. While she spent the majority of her years in custom software, she has also implemented ERPs, done hardware rollouts and changed out operating systems. In the past 10 years, she led the brand's point of sale and order management teams, then expanded into the VP of store technology role.
As SVP of technology she is focused on merchandising, technology enablement and enterprise UX. Her teams develop solutions for merchandising, online, customer, marketing and supply chain functions.
Brown said she moved into the retail industry as she loves business and loves solving problems.
"I like to continuously learn and am passionate about delivering value. I hope to continue that here at The Home Depot for many years to come," she said in an email interview.
Q. Let's start with what Home Depot has been doing with technology the past year or so when it comes to creating a seamless shopping experience. What's been deployed and any insight on ROI as yet?
A. Our customers expect a seamless shopping experience, no matter when, where or how they shop with us. We have refreshed our network with best-in-class Wi-Fi 6 coverage throughout our stores, for example, including up to a football field surrounding the store which helps our associates and customers stay connected and find products and information quicker.
Another major project for us this past year was the launch of our intent search, which improves the digital experience by identifying the product or service that customers need without extra work on their end. For example, a simple search for an outdoor ceiling fan can lead to a wide variety of results. With intent search, our search engine utilizes machine learning and terabytes of data to understand what that particular customer needs along with hidden connections among products — such as downrods and sloped ceilings.
Supply chains play a key role in a seamless shopping experience, and we are a building technology that enables the most efficient, fastest delivery in home improvement. Our network allows customers to select from several fulfillment options, including in store, at home or on the job site. Our innovative supply chain can efficiently handle a wide variety of orders, both big and small.
It is one feat to power a supply chain that can handle small packages or large products, but another to be flexible enough to manage various sized, urgent deliveries. For example, sending a small box of nails or huge pallets of roofing material to a job site, on the same or next day. It is incredibly complex, which makes it interesting and fun to figure out how technology can make that process seem simple for the customer.
Q. Can you share insight on the deployment and strategy around in-store mobile devices and how it plays into the customer CX as well as the team member experience?
A. We recently rolled out more than 125,000 new hdPhones, our mobile in-store devices that empower our associates to provide a frictionless experience for our customers. With the devices, our associates can locate products faster, quickly connect with other associates and serve customers by looking up inventory and availability. The hdPhones include long-range barcode scanning to easily reach inventory in our aisles and utilize the powerful network to help customers anywhere in our stores and throughout our garden areas and parking lots.
Our associates are the lifeblood of the company, and our in-store network refresh and new hdPhones empower them to effectively help our customers.
A key to the deployment strategy for this project — and all of our technology deployments — was piloting, listening, iterating and improving. We work in an agile fashion with a constant focus on a customer-backed approach. This allows us to deliver technology that meets the needs of both our associates and customers.
Q. With 2023 arriving what's on the planning board for technology that will improve customer CX or upgrades/advancements on tech already in play?
A. We just finished deploying Sidekick, our homegrown app which has been deployed to hdPhones across all U.S. stores. Sidekick leverages machine learning to help our associates prioritize which in-store tasks will best serve our customers in a timely manner.
In addition, our teams will continue to explore emerging technology and their applications, including machine learning, AI and computer vision. We'll also evaluate how The Home Depot can utilize these technologies to best drive value for our customers and remove friction from their shopping experience.
Q. Why is the customer experience in-store and online so important for retailers and brands such as Home Depot? Is it because of customer expectations or competitors or both?
A. Customer expectations have never moved faster than they do today, so it's important for retailers to remain in lockstep. We don't build technology for technology's sake — we are focused on making home improvement easier for both our DIYers and our Pros. Our customers have no tolerance for friction, which means we need to create and deliver an interconnected experience no matter where or how they choose to shop.
Q. As SVP of tech what advice would you give to colleagues when it comes to CX tech such as how to prioritize, what to tackle first and are there any tips from your years of learning?
A. When it comes to customer experience, it all comes down to listening — to our associates, to our vendor partners and to our customers. Technology is only powerful if it solves real world problems, and it should be used as a tool to help remove friction in the shopping experience. We strive to equip our customers and our associates with the best tools in the industry to help make home improvement projects easier, quicker and more affordable to complete.
About Judy Mottl
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