Home Depot plans heavy investments to hone its customer experience edge

When the housing market slumped nearly a decade ago, rather than minimize its investments in technology and infrastructure, Home Depot ramped them up, thereby setting the company on firmer ground to meet consumer demand once new home building and renovations got hot again. In anticipation of another inevitable slowdown in the market, management is again using cash reserves to prepare for the future, doubling its spending in the next three years to about $11.1 billion on needs such as speedier check-outs, more competitive wages and a more efficient supply chain.