Home Depot holiday ads spur double-digital growth in app usage

Brief:

Home Depot's latest ad campaign led one of the biggest single days of downloads for its mobile app, which saw double-digital growth in usage, according to the company's Q4 earnings conference call.
During the holiday shopping season, the retailer launched a campaign that included a TV commercial showing how customers can use the mobile platform and set up a section on its website to highlight the app's features.
Home Depot's same-store sales rose 5.2% during the holiday quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of 4.8%, CNBC reported. Online sales grew about 21% for the quarter and full year. Net income climbed 5.8% to $2.48 billion during Q4 from a year earlier. Total revenue slipped 2.7% to $25.78 billion, in line with analyst estimates of $25.76 billion.

Insight:

Home Depot's quarterly results highlight how retailers can support their mobile marketing efforts by showcasing their apps in multichannel campaigns. Compared with past ad campaigns like last year's "Today is the day for doing" spot that briefly showed a shopper using a smartphone in a store, the recent "How doers get more done" commercial was entirely devoted to app features like image recognition to identify repair parts, a product locator and in-store pickup. Highlighting those features helped to drive a surge in app downloads, a strategy that other retailers may consider as they seek to boost revenue from mobile shopping.

Home Depot has earned high marks for its mobile marketing savvy in the past year. It was ranked No. 1 in a study of retailer mobile apps because of its functionality and strong user experience (UX), Forrester Research said in a report. The report suggests that a mobile app should be considered "much more than a glorified mobile site" by offering additional features that add value for omnichannel experiences, not just mobile commerce.

Forrester said Home Depot's in-app messaging center that sends offers, promotions and design ideas without relying on the more intrusive SMS notification system is a better way to provide more personalized or contextually relevant information to mobile customers based on their interests, purchases and search history.

Home Depot also boosted customer engagement 238% with a system to capture customer identity to streamline the UX, consumer identity management firm Infutor said last month. The data-driven approach to improving the UX harnessed more detailed information about online shoppers, such as their preferences, shopping behavior and brand sentiment.