Lowe’s offers kid’s events, loyalty program as Americans buy homes later
Near the wide aisles where home decor items are sold, some Lowe’s This Saturday, the littlest shoppers worked on their own DIY projects.
Children, some as young as 3, wore miniature versions of the retailer’s signature red aprons as they assembled washing machine-themed piggy banks in the retailer’s children’s workshop at the retailer’s store in North Bergen, New Jersey.
Lowe’s is trying to appeal to a younger audience — but it suddenly found an untapped market for preschoolers spending on home improvements. The retailer’s relaunch of its Kids Club program this month and the start of handing out lollipops to kids who visit its stores was truly a step in its strategy to win more business from young adult parents, especially those who aren’t yet homeowners.
But this applies not only to young parents. Lowe’s wants to attract new shoppers from Gen Z and Millennials, who buy homes later than their parents. Other moves to win over groups include adding a broader range of products through a third-party marketplace and leveraging a network of influencers on social media.
The company wants to attract more frequent store and website visits as the U.S. housing market remains sluggish, consumers are putting off home buying until later in life, and the high prices of everyday expenses are causing more people to put off major purchases and projects like kitchen remodels. It’s adding some features through My Lowe’s Rewards, a customer loyalty program for DIY shoppers that the company launched two years ago and has reached more than 30 million members.
“What we’re challenging from a marketing perspective and a total brand perspective is how do we drive relevance among consumers who are not in the homeowner category or want to be in the homeowner category but aren’t financially able to do so,” said Lowe’s Chief Marketing Officer Jen Wilson.
Lowe’s has relaunched its Kids Club, a free workshop where kids can do their own DIY projects. The workshop was held recently at its store in Matthews, North Carolina.
Courtesy of Lowe’s
He said this has encouraged the home decor retailer to think about “increasing relevance in new ways,” including adding more events and searching for surprising or intriguing products on TikTok that might catch a potential customer’s attention.
This is where children come into play. One surprising finding from Lowe’s market research, he said, is the strong influence children have in determining where their parents choose to shop, especially for millennial parents.
Home Depot and Lowe’s stores
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postpone projects
As home prices and borrowing costs have risen, more Americans have put off homeownership; This is a life stage that leads people to purchase paint or hardware or hire home professionals such as electricians or plumbers. According to the National Association of Realtors, the average age of first-time homebuyers is now 40; This is an all-time high.
Home improvement sales have fallen since the Covid pandemic years. Lowe’s expects total sales this year to be $86 billion. This represents an increase of $83.7 billion over the same period the previous year, but will be lower than in all four years before that. Lowe’s also expects comparable sales, an industry measure that excludes one-time factors such as store openings and closings, to be flat from a year ago.
Compared to rival Home Depot, Lowe’s relies more on DIY shoppers. According to the company, about 70% of its sales come from these consumers, with the remainder coming from home professionals such as contractors, roofers and electricians that homeowners typically hire.
Home DepotOn the other hand, it has historically generated about half of its sales from home professionals and half from DIY shoppers.
Both Lowe’s and Home Depot executives said they are seeing reduced demand for big-budget items and more expensive projects, which they attribute to slow housing conversions and economic uncertainty. Housing turnover often spurs projects as homeowners spruce up their homes before selling or repair them as they move.
Meanwhile, both companies are focused on attracting more professionals who are bigger, more reliable spenders. In 2024, Home Depot made the largest acquisition in its history, acquiring SRS Distribution, a Texas-based company that sells supplies to professionals in landscaping, pool and roofing businesses. It also acquired other companies last year, including building products distributor GMS.
Lowe’s made two of its own pro-focused acquisitions last year. Acquired Foundation Building Materials, a distributor of drywall, insulation and other interior building products to large residential and commercial professionals, and Artisan Design Group, which provides design services and flooring, cabinetry and countertop installations for home builders and property managers.
But Gordon Haskett Equity Research retail analyst Chuck Grom said Lowe’s greater reliance on do-it-yourself shoppers next year could give the company an advantage. He upgraded the company’s shares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating earlier this month due to signs that the housing environment is improving.
While the housing market is still struggling, furniture sales have increased in recent quarters and more consumers are getting used to higher borrowing costs as the “new normal,” Grom said. In the stock research firm’s most recent quarterly survey, about 35% of consumers said they would be willing to buy a home with a 5.5% to 6% mortgage rate. In the third quarter survey, this rate was around 25%.
The average 30-year mortgage rate has fallen slightly in recent months and was around 6.2% last week.
These are hopeful signs that consumers may re-engage in more DIY projects, even if the recovery is gradual, he said.
Lowe’s shares reflect optimism about the year ahead. Its shares have lagged the S&P 500’s performance over the past year and the past five years, but are up nearly 22% in the past six months. That compares with Home Depot, whose shares rose about 4% during the same period.
Starting this month, Lowe’s is giving out lollipops in stores in hopes of attracting more parents and families.
Courtesy of Lowe’s
Lowe’s getting younger
A key goal of Lowe’s strategy is to give customers more reasons to engage with its app or website or make store visits part of their routine, even between DIY projects.
Lowe’s hopes free lollipops, for example, will encourage parents of children to stop by a store where they can buy a few items, or give parents longer to linger in peace while comparing devices in the aisles, said Amanda Bailey, Lowe’s vice president of customer marketing and loyalty.
Lowe’s is also trying to give shoppers more reasons to join or use its loyalty program. Customers now need to sign up for a free monthly kids’ club workshop through the program, and kids will be able to collect digital badges on their parent’s loyalty account by completing projects. Customers can collect points from purchases that become MyLowe’s money; This is an incentive for consumers to purchase everyday items, such as household cleaning products or light bulbs, from the retailer.
Lowe said he plans to expand kids’ workshops for kids ages 3 to 10 and add more complex projects for older kids and teens.
It also tested other free events for loyalty program members at select stores, including kids’ soccer clinics, a ladies’ night with DIY projects like terrarium building, and a family night with games and hands-on activities.
“Traditionally, loyalty programs have been about rewarding the transaction,” said Bailey, who previously worked to increase loyalty at brands such as Hilton and Tory Burch. “And now we’re thinking: How can we engage customers at different stages of their lives, at different moments in their lives?”
Kids participate in the Lowe’s Kids Club at the retailer’s store in Matthews, North Carolina.
Courtesy of Lowe’s
In addition to typical home decor products, Lowe’s also tries to introduce products that surprise customers or go viral on social media. Lowe’s sales and marketing teams began preparing a 12-month product plan for what the company could become trending products, launching about three to five products per quarter, Wilson said. Loyalty program members have early or special access to purchase some products, Wilson said.
One of their first drops was Lowe’s mini buckets, which recently came out in light pink. Mini Kobalt toolbox kits, available in a variety of colors, have also gained traction on social media, with customers using them to organize their makeup or store school supplies.
There are other items that Lowe’s hopes will generate interest. These include a scented candle and tote bag that will drop in spring, Lowe’s peak sales season, and a pet-themed Advent calendar for the holidays.
“These are affordable, impulse buys and great ways to introduce our brands to consumers who might not otherwise consider us,” Wilson said.
Lowe’s also launched a creator network in June to encourage more influencers to share projects they’ve made or products they’ve purchased. It has also partnered with well-known social media creator MrBeast, which has a storefront on the retailer’s website where customers can purchase their favorite products.
The marketplace, which launched in late 2024, was a way to add more brands and expand categories.
Gordon Haskett’s Grom said company initiatives to win customer loyalty, especially among younger shoppers, were important but “won’t move the needle immediately.”
“They’re trying to control what they can control,” he said. “The winds of housing change are too strong for them right now.”
Home Depot has also made its own moves to attract customers: We’re launching a new platform for creators late last year and is creating a new hub on its website with advice and ideas for new homeowners. It also accelerated customer deliveries. More than half of deliveries were same-day or next-day, more than three times the figure in 2022, the company said at its investor day in December. It also offers free children’s workshops in its stores.
But as home improvement retailers try to win over a limited pool of business, they also compete with independent and specialty home improvement stores, privately held Ace Hardware, and retail giants like Walmart and Amazon that carry some of the same products.
Even though they may not provide immediate returns, events will play a role in moving this rivalry forward. For families who came to the kids’ workshop at the Lowe’s North Bergen store on Saturday, the event was a welcome way to spend a snowy day and get their kids working with their hands.
Ivette Crisostomo, a mother from Fort Lee, NJ, brought her three-year-old son, Kai, to the workshop. He coordinated with two friends who brought their children to the event.
“It’s like a set play date for everyone,” he said. And he added, “This also boosts his confidence.”
As the event ended, the goal of Lowe’s strategy was revealed. Many parents browsed the Lowe’s aisles for items after finishing the project. Crisostomo said that he sometimes goes shopping too.
“I have wanderlust and if I need something, I’ll come to Lowe’s,” he said.
