Home Depot Swot Analysis Paper

Introduction to “The Home Depot”- JP Home improvement continues to drive consumer self-motivation and do-it-yourself projects for eager homeowners and contractors across the United States. As homeowners plan structural and cosmetic changes to their homes, the long-term home improvement company, The Home Depot, serves customers to meet the needs of their families. According to Business Insights: Global (2006), “[The Home Depot] has thousands of stores located throughout the United States, including Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, Guam, Canada, China, and Mexico” (Website). Since 1978, The Home Depot has shaped the home improvement retail sales market. As its stock continues to improve, and with changes of leadership at every level

Its close rival for decades was Lowe’s. A comparable conglomerate, similar to The Home Depot in many ways. This rivalry could be compared to the rivalry between Apple and Samsung. Both companies producing a similar product at similar prices. Competition, obviously, would then be very fierce. Last year, Home Depot gained 9.5% while Lowe’s added a comparable 9.1% growth in share price (Meadows, 2015). Creating a competitive advantage is key. Keeping costs down and margins up will enable the future growth and market stability The Home Depot needs. This year The Home Depot’s cost per employee was $42,922, a full nine percent lower than competitor, Lowe’s at $46,759 (Meadows, 2015). This due in part to the greater percentage of part time workers compared to Lowe’s. Since the recession in 2008, The Home Depot has made it a priority to focus on customer satisfaction, shelf space utilization, and closing non-profitable stores (Trefis, 2015). For this trend to remain, the focus must be on continued optimization and market growth. The Home Depot has created a very sustainable business model. Some would argue that the number of new jobs created is not really growth without the creation of fulltime positions, but as seen here, The Home Depot using a larger number of part-time jobs increases flexibility and reduces overall cost per