The Business
Home Depot, a leading home improvement retailer, is renowned for its vast array of products and exceptional customer service. Established in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1979, Home Depot has successfully extended its operations to Mexico, maintaining its core value of offering everything customers need for home improvement under one roof at the best prices. Entering a fragmented market at its inception over twenty years ago, Home Depot Mexico introduced a unique concept to the Mexican retail landscape, consolidating various home improvement products in one place, which significantly contributed to its success.
The Challenge
- Fragmented Market and Lack of Unified Shopping Experience
- Limited E-commerce Adoption and Customer Hesitation
- Inadequate Personalization and Customer Engagement
- Challenges During Peak Sales Seasons
Home Depot Mexico wanted to make a good showing at Hot Sale, Mexico’s annual event offering deep discounts for online purchases. Organized by the Mexican Association of Online Sales (AMVO), this event is a shopper favorite. During Hot Sale, brands offer exclusive discounts and special promotions on a wide range of products and services, and Home Depot wanted to craft a winning strategy that would delight its existing customers and bring in new ones. Hot Sale was conceived with the main objective of promoting the growth of e-commerce in Mexico, and has grown in popularity year over year. Home Depot began planning its strategy with the help of Emarsys to ensure good personalization, a cohesive customer journey, and a strategy focused on personalization, conversion, retention, and fostering loyalty.
“You do things a certain way, you automate a certain way, you personalize a certain way. And this particular team [the Emarsys Strategic Services Team] is specialized in showing you the different ways you can increase your engagement, make things better, or even integrate things that you didn’t know were possible before. So once you start doing that and you see the results, it’s just fantastic.”
The Solution
In consultation and collaboration with their Emarsys support team, including the Emarsys Strategic Services Team. Home Depot set out to address some of its challenges and obstacles to a successful Hot Sale promotion.
Addressed the Fragmented Market and Lack of Unified Shopping Experience
When Home Depot first entered the Mexican market, it faced a highly fragmented landscape with numerous small stores scattered across the country. This fragmentation meant that no single retailer provided a comprehensive shopping experience, making it difficult for customers to find all their home improvement needs in one place. Working with Emarsys, Home Depot was able to unify data, helping customers have a more cohesive shopping experience.
Limited E-commerce Adoption and Customer Hesitation
Despite the launch of a transactional e-commerce website, many Mexican consumers were hesitant to shop online. Concerns about safety, ease of use, and product delivery deterred potential customers from embracing online shopping, limiting Home Depot’s reach and growth in the digital space. Using Emarsys’ personalization engine with permission-based marketing, Home Depot Mexico focused on understanding their customers’ wants and preferences. They gave them ample information about the company, and served them up customized content that spoke to their hobbies and home renovation passions.
Focused on Personalization and Customer Engagement
Home Depot wanted to enhance the personalization of its customers’ experiences and engage them effectively. To do this, they created a welcome series. Once a customer bought online for the first time, they were entered into an automated flow of content which they received in the first week post-purchase. Firstly, they were sent an introduction to Home Depot, letting the shopper know what Home Depot stands for, their story, the brands they feature, and what their values are, as well as practical information, such as payment and credit options, and their online-only catalog. Next, they were guided through a progressive profiling sequence to find out their hobbies, what brought them to Home Depot, their favorite room, and other first-party data. Lastly, they offered customers motivation and inspiration, project ideas, and information on top categories and promotions. This comprehensive strategy helped Home Depot introduce its brand to a wide swath of first-time buyers.
Challenges During Peak Sales Seasons
Preparing for a peak sales season like Hot Sale posed a significant challenge, but also a great opportunity. Home Depot needed a robust strategy to handle the increased traffic, ensure a seamless shopping experience, and capitalize on these high-demand periods to boost sales and acquire new customers. Through serving up personalized content, including web channel, Home Depot Mexico was able to serve up personalized content and build their database of new and prospective buyers to better serve them.
Maximizing high peak seasons
“Hot Sales season was created to get customers to buy online for the first time. And that is true for us. Over the years, we’ve noticed that over 50% of the customers that buy during this season are actually new customers. This customer, this new person that’s buying from you, you know, they want to know more about you.”
Mauricio Gonzalez, Online Experience Manager, The Home Depot
Personalizing customer engagement at scale
We know that most customers when they’re going to shop online for a big season, they already kind of know what they want. So what we do on those kinds of situations is, on our website, we ask them through a sign-up form saying ‘Hey, what category are you interested in on this event, and I’ll send you the latest info on the deals on the day one of the event.’ So that’s something that just really worked for us.
Creating a successful welcome series
Home Depot created an automated flow of content which customers received in the first week post-purchase. It was in three stages: an introduction to Home Depot, then a progressive profiling sequence, and, lastly, they offered customers inspiration, project ideas, and information on top categories and promotions.
The Impact
Working closely with Emarsys and, in particular, the Emarsys Product and Services Team, Home Depot was able to implement personalized marketing strategies that significantly enhanced customer engagement. Throughout the campaign, Home Depot achieved eight times higher engagement with tailored, personalized content than with broad, general content. The conversion rate also saw a notable increase of 5% during peak sales seasons, reflecting the effectiveness of targeted campaigns. Home Depot experienced double-digit sales growth during peak seasons.
The company’s e-commerce initiatives and strategic planning positioned it as a top six retailer in searches during high-demand periods, a significant achievement for a specialty store. The implementation of personalized content and automated flows improved the overall customer experience. New customers received tailored content that introduced them to Home Depot’s offerings and engaged them in long-term interests, fostering loyalty and encouraging repeat purchases. By addressing the challenges of a fragmented market, educating consumers about e-commerce, and implementing advanced personalization strategies, Home Depot strengthened its presence in the Mexican market. The success of these initiatives showcased Home Depot’s ability to adapt to market dynamics and leverage digital transformation to drive growth.
Home Depot’s strategic focus on omnichannel personalization not only addressed key challenges but also propelled the company to new heights in the Mexican market. By offering a consolidated shopping experience, educating consumers, and personalizing customer interactions, Home Depot achieved remarkable improvements in engagement, conversion rates, and overall sales performance, solidifying its position as a leader in the home improvement retail industry.
“Something else we do is we curate specific emails depending on whether the latest trends at the moment. So something we do is we send a daily email to these customers with very specific content. So and that has very high engagement.”
