The Home Depot introduced a project planning tool for its Pro segment, which directly operates via distribution sales, services and logistics and serves contractors. HD’s Pro component ranks on MDM’s Top Distributor Lists (No. 6 for Industrial Supplies, No. 4 for MRO, No. 3 for Building Materials and No. 9 for JanSan.)

The Home Depot’s new Project Planning tool enables its pro customers to manage every phase of their projects on one platform through a single supplier. Project Planning brings the entire Home Depot product assortment – including all items available in stores and fulfillment centers, appliances and specialty items like decking and windows – into a digital workspace.

Multiple users within a company can collaborate with their Home Depot support team in real time and access planning tools such as:

• Material List Creation: Pros can create comprehensive materials lists for all their projects and organize by the various phases of a project, by room, or by category. They can also save lists as templates to easily reorder go-to materials as needed.
• Order Tracking and Management: The Project Planning tool offers a consolidated view of all project-related transactions, including order and digital delivery tracking.
• Personalized Delivery Preferences: Different job sites have different delivery needs, from staged deliveries to specific drop-off locations. With the new Project Planning tool, pros can set job site instructions, business hours and delivery preferences for each project.
• Early Pricing and Inventory Visibility: In order to provide accurate estimates to their clients and plan for what materials they will need for a project, pros now get early visibility into pricing and inventory availability.

“Our Project Planning tool makes it easier than ever for our pro customers to plan, purchase and monitor the status of their complex projects – all backed by the full power of The Home Depot’s product assortment and expertise,” said Mike Rowe, Executive Vice President of Pro for The Home Depot. “The average pro works with 10 or more suppliers on a single job. We’re in a unique position to simplify this process and will continue to expand our digital tools to meet the evolving needs of pros.”

The home improvement retailed has been eyeing the contractor market for some time, evident by its big investments within building materials distribution. The announcement comes on the heels of The Home Depot’s Sept. acquisition of wallboard products distributor GMS and the SRS acquisition in June.

The Home Depot outlined its plans to serve this “untapped” contractor market in 2023, read about it on MDM Premium.

In August, rival home improvement retailer Lowe’s also bought interior building products Foundation Building Materials from private equity firms American Securities and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for approximately $8.8 billion.