HomeDepot.com Good Feature Review
September 18, 2000
By Jen Schaeffer, Creative Good analyst
Summary: Home Depot's website makes it easy to calculate project needs.
Date of our evaluation: 7/30/00
How to get there:
1. Go to www.homedepot.com
2. In the top navigation, click "Calculators."
3. Select a project from the drop-down menu or click directly on a project.
Determining the exact amount of material needed for a home improvement project can be a challenge. Shoppers may know what room they want to paint, but not how many gallons of paint they'll need. The Calculator feature on Homedepot.com, the Web site of the popular home improvement store, makes it easier for customers to plan a home improvement project.
Customers can access the Calculators through a link in the top navigation bar. Once there, Home Depot allows them to choose the type of project (Carpet, Paint, etc.) by using a drop-down menu or by clicking on a project type listed below. If customers select Paint in the drop-down menu and click Go, Home Depot takes them to the Interior Paint Calculator page.
On the Calculator page, customers fill in fields for the room's length, width, height and baseboard height. When customers click "Calculate Now," Home Depot tells them the amount of paint required for the project. For example, if a customer has a 10 x 12 x 10 room, Home Depot tells her she'll need 1.3 gallons of paint for the walls and 0.3 gallons for the ceiling. Breaking the information down by walls and ceiling is helpful for customers who want to use different colors for each surface.
Although Home Depot does not yet offer online commerce nationwide, useful tools, such as the Calculators, create a good customer experience. By making it easy to plan a project, Home Depot may encourage customers to return frequently to the Web site and buy online when commerce is available in their area. In addition, by allowing customers to easily research and access helpful information online, Home Depot may boost offline purchases.
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