Home Depot originally established its reputation as a predominantly big box DIY outlet staffed with personable, seasoned pros. When it worked well, the social aspects of Home Depot's customer service philosophy were tangible. An ambitious weekend DIY adventure became somehow within the reach of the average "all-thumbs" homeowner, secure in the knowledge that a staff member would be at the point-of-sale to offer instructions.
And so, when its "How-To Community" site launched last week it seemed like a natural extension of the HD approach to educate and encourage DIYers. Some market observers compared it to Best Buy's Twelpforce squadron of Twitterers. However, the Home Depot effort seems more substantial by comparison to most, with less emphasis on superficial socializing and more weight on instructional content.
More akin to a user-forum than a Facebook page, it's clear that the How-To Community knowledge-base will grow over time. There is a decent initial offering to get early visitors started, however, and it's likely the Home Depot contributing associates were asked to pay particular attention to seeding the first round of discussions. ("Experts" work a couple days a week on the community website instead of on the shop floor.) That said, the response to consumer inquiries is surprisingly thorough.
In the "Plants & Vegetables" category of the discussions, for example, "aalicea" posts an inquiry entitled "Bamboo-zled" in which she asks advice on transplanting bamboo to a small outdoor flower bed. The response:
- She receives a concise reply from "greengiant," a 14-year Home Depot veteran and store horticulturist. (He's 6' 9" tall.) Ingar (his real name) warns against bamboo's invasiveness and adds a photo as illustration.
- A second associate, "hortman" (aka Ken -- associate degree in horticulture) takes aalicea to class on different bamboo species so that she can first identify what she has and then care for them accordingly.
- Finally, a professional landscaper from GardenWorldReport.com gives aalicea options on using outdoor pots for her bamboo, complete with more photo examples.
The social content on the How-To Community runs the gamut from this type of interactive threaded discussion to video blogs, contests and "Meet the Experts" profiles. Judging from much of the "Recent Topics" highlighted on the home page, it appears Home Depot is going after the"lighter" side (i.e. Lowe's customer) of its base with home decorator projects as opposed to more challenging renovation work. But the site also offers plenty of "Project Guides" and "Buying Guides." And these bridge the gap between education and e-commerce to guide customers as they fill their online shopping carts.
Discussion Questions: How would you rate Home Depot's efforts in building their online How-To Community? Do you think the time their associates will spend working online and away from their in-store duties will be worthwhile? Will the online community build loyalty and sales with a valuable demographic?