Voice of the Brand

4 Insights into how Pros plan to shop this holiday season

Dec. 3, 2019
3 min read

Like years past, retailers are creating shopping experiences that not only save customers time and money, but also provide them with a bit of fun and inspiration for the upcoming year.

Much like the average consumer, we know that home improvement professionals have big shopping needs as they head into the new year. Pros use holiday shopping as an opportunity to restock their toolboxes, loading up on items they need from job to job and getting great deals for their businesses (and themselves).

To understand how Pros are planning to “get ahead” of their busiest shopping season, Lowe’s commissioned a study to uncover shopping insights about what tools and hardware products Pros are most looking for this holiday sales season.

By polling Pros, ranging from general contractors to electricians, remodelers to painters, the survey uncovered that the average Pro plans to fill his or her holiday shopping cart with items spanning more than eight product categories. The majority also plan to make in-store visits to their local retailer to stock up on the discounted items they need for the upcoming year.

Here are the top four takeaways from the survey:

1.Planned Projects:

According to the survey findings, we can expect about a third of Pros will be shopping for projects pertaining to builidng exteriors, skilled trades kitchen and bath, indicating that products related to these projects will be quick to fly off the shelves.

2.Shopping Habits:

Two-thirds of Pros plan to shop for holiday sales in-store versus from an online-only retailer or a retailer’s website, signaling that the in-store customer experience is paramount to capturing sales and making loyal customers.

3.Desired Products:

Eighty-five percent of survey respondents reported that hand tools and power tools are at the top of their holiday shopping lists this year.

  • Almost 50 percent of Pros are likely to purchase products from one of these three categories – drills, tool sets and cutting tools.
  • Within the hand tools category, Pros selected tools sets, cutting tools, screwdrivers and measuring & layout tools as the products they’re most interested in buying.
  • Within the power tools category, Pros reported plans to purchase drills, combo kits, accessories and saws as their top selections.

4.Audience Insights:

A further look into audience types revealed specific professions have different shopping priorities:

  • Generalist Pros such as contractors, remodelers and renovators, surveyed plan to make purchases across more tool and hardware categories (9 categories) than specific skilled tradespeople (7.2 categories).
  • Skilled Tradespeople surveyed expect to work on more kitchen and bath projects in 2020, and prefer more than the average respondent to shop in-store (70% vs. 65% respectively).
  • Pros surveyed, who work for larger companies, such as property management and investment groups, will make purchases across more product categories during holiday sales compared to those with companies smaller than 20 employees.
  • Self-employed Pros plan to do bathroom projects most frequently in 2020, whereas Pros employed by companies plan to complete the most building exterior project

As the busy holiday shopping season is upon us, Pros can be assured that shopping at Lowe’s will not only yield great savings on the brands they love like DEWALT, Metabo HPT and Spyder, but also provide an exciting experience. As the Official Home Improvement Sponsor of the NFL, on Black Friday (Nov. 29) each U.S. Lowe’s store is offering its first 300 in-store customers the chance to enter to win two tickets to Super Bowl LIV in Miami.

To check out Lowe’s top holiay deals for Pros, visit LowesForPros.com.

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Lowe's Pros

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