Dive Brief:
- Home Depot is investing in faster order fulfillment to bolster its customer experience, executives said on a Q2 2025 earnings call Tuesday.
- The home improvement retailer sees a double-digit increase in spending from customers who utilize faster delivery options, according to Ann-Marie Campbell, senior executive vice president of U.S. stores and operations. These customers shop more frequently in-store as well as online.
- “Our faster delivery speeds are resonating with customers and driving greater engagement and sales,” Executive Vice President of Merchandising Billy Bastek said during the call. “We know that as we remove friction from the experience, we see incremental customer engagement.”
Dive Insight:
Associates and technology are working together to improve Home Depot’s last-mile performance.
The retailer achieved the fastest delivery speed across the greatest number of products in its history during the quarter, according to Campbell.
Home Depot is using machine learning to determine whether orders should be delivered from a store or fulfillment center, improving efficiency. It also added more dedicated order fulfillment associates to its stores and equipped them with an app that helps prioritize their work.
“Having dedicated associates for these orders, coupled with powerful technology on their end, ensures that orders are efficiently and accurately picked, driving faster fulfillment times and higher customer satisfaction,” Campbell said during the call.
Home Depot’s latest last-mile improvements build on earlier efforts to improve delivery speed. In January, the company entered partnerships with DoorDash and Uber Eats to expand its on-demand delivery options.
Home Depot’s sales grew 4.9% year over year to $45.3 billion in the second quarter of 2025, according to a company earnings report. U.S. comparable sales rose 1.4% year over year, compared to a 1% increase in global comparable sales.
“Our results are a testament to our focus on enhancing the customer experience as we invest in our strategic initiatives, from technology investments that drive productivity to the capabilities we are building with our pro ecosystem to better serve complex purchases to faster delivery options for all of our customers,” President and CEO Ted Decker said on the call.
