Developing a new product strategy to revitalize Home Depot’s suffering door chime category required a second look at how much shoppers valued local style and in-store simplicity.
Despite being one of the biggest home improvement retailers in the world, Home Depot had a lower-interest, one-size-fits-all product category—door chimes—that was losing share and sitting on the shelf. THRIVE* came to the rescue to help this essential but overlooked product category ring out to consumers.
Heavy on function but light on style, Home Depot’s selection and display of door chimes wasn’t inspiring anyone. The brand’s previous innovation tactic was to add high-tech bells and whistles to their chimes. We discovered, however, that doorbell buyers shop more from their proud hearts than their analytical heads. Instead of the latest technology, people really wanted a doorbell that enhanced the character of their home.
Home Depot’s existing product line was undifferentiated, over-SKU-ed, and assumed all houses and homeowners were the same. This made displays downright unshoppable. We developed a new product strategy that revised the whole experience, identifying three main consumer shopping behaviors (by technology, style, and job profile), and more than 25 prevalent architectural genres across U.S. homes. We then culled everything down to seven regionally appropriate product families that captured the essence of our country’s most popular architectural styles.
Previously, the chime selection available in the Southwest was the same as in the South. And the East. And the Midwest. We created a regional merchandising strategy that made sure Home Depot had the right amount of the right products in the right regions, saving money and shelf space. We then tested the layouts with customer walkthroughs in The Home Depot’s Innovation Center. The result? We significantly streamlined SKUs, while crafting an integrated packaging and merchandising strategy that drew in style-conscious shoppers. Plus, we gave Home Depot a blueprint for revitalizing other suffering commodity categories.
