Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Online storefronts are gaining a pricing advantage over bricks-and-mortar retailers, but that’s not always the case with the home improvement industry, according to a study conducted by Chicago-based marketing firm Anthem Marketing Solutions.
The analysis found that 70 percent of items compared had the same price online and offline. But for the 30 percent of items with a price difference, the better price was found online 65 percent of the time.
However, the study’s observations in the hardware and home improvement category bucked this trend: nearly two-thirds of items were found at a lower price offline, and about a third at a lower price online. Additionally, when pricing favored the in-store channel, the savings opportunity averaged 32 percent.
Home Depot recorded the greatest average savings opportunity of 67 percent when an item could be found at a lower price online, while Lowe’s offered the greatest average offline savings opportunity, with 40 percent.
While online dominates overall, this study also found significant savings opportunities in the offline channel, suggesting it continues to pay to do price comparisons for certain categories.
Online and in-store prices were compared for Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, Ace Hardware, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Best Buy, CVS and Walgreens. Online prices were checked for Amazon.com. Of the 12 stores analyzed, eight favored online pricing, two had price parity and two—Home Depot and Office Depot—had better pricing offline.
Click here to view the entire study.
