Lowe's — Optimizing the Omnichannel Pro Experience
Photoshop, Collaboration, Time Management, Spec Creative
The Challenge
Home improvement retailers like Lowe's serve a highly demanding customer base—the professional contractor and the committed DIYer—who manage large-scale, complex projects. The existing digital experience created significant friction when bridging the gap between online planning and in-store execution.
The core pain points identified were:
Fragmented Cart Management: Customers struggled to organize products within a single large order (e.g., separating items for "Rough-in Plumbing" vs. "Tile & Grout"), leading to errors during purchase and frustration during pickup.
Inventory Uncertainty: Lack of real-time, consolidated visibility into inventory across multiple preferred store locations and delivery options. This forced users into excessive back-and-forth clicks, wasting valuable time.
Stalled High-Value Orders: The complexity of coordinating large orders (mixing lumber delivery with hardware pickup) often led to cart abandonment and delayed project starts.
The challenge was to transform the standard retail shopping cart into a powerful project management tool that instills confidence and simplifies the path to purchase for complex, high-value transactions.
The Vision
Our vision was to redesign the cart and checkout flow as the central hub for project organization, delivering clarity and control through a mobile-first, omnichannel approach.
We aimed to shift the perception of the Lowe's digital experience from a basic catalog to an integrated project partner that saves Pros and DIYers time and money.
Key Objectives:
Introduce Project Cart Logic: Allow users to segment a single cart into clear, named sub-projects (e.g., Bathroom 1, Deck Build).
Provide Inventory Certainty: Display a single, transparent view of availability across all delivery and pickup options, factoring in the entire order volume.
Streamline Mixed Fulfillment: Create a frictionless checkout path for orders requiring a mix of truck delivery and Buy Online, Pick Up In Store (BOPIS) fulfillment.
The Solution
My approach focused on a strategic UX overhaul of the cart, product detail, and checkout pages, designed to manage high-volume complexity while maintaining a clean, accessible UI.
Key Deliverables & Spec Work Features
The "Project Cart" Interface: Introduced grouping functionality within the cart, allowing users to label and collapse item sections. This makes large orders manageable and ensures correct allocation of materials per phase of a project.
The Omnichannel Inventory Status Bar: A persistent element on the product detail page and in the cart. This visual status bar provides immediate feedback:
In-Stock Status: Toggles between "Delivery" and "Pickup," showing inventory at the user's primary and secondary preferred store locations.
Bulk Availability: Alerts the user if the full quantity requested is not available and suggests alternatives (e.g., "Max 45 units available here, 15 units at Store B").
The Unified Checkout Flow: Designed a clear, two-step funnel that separates fulfillment methods before payment:
Step 1: Fulfillment Confirmation: The user confirms which project groups will be delivered and which will be picked up.
Step 2: Payment: A single transaction completes the entire mixed order.
Creative Direction & Accessibility: Proposed a visual refresh utilizing high-contrast typography and clear information hierarchy to ensure fast comprehension and accessibility, especially on mobile devices where Pros manage orders on job sites.
Potential Impact and Outcome
This UX redesign is positioned to tackle a major cause of friction for Lowe's most valuable customers. By transforming the cart into a smart project manager, this solution would be expected to drive:
Increased Conversion Rate: Higher completion rates for large-scale, complex orders.
Reduced Customer Service Calls: Clarity on inventory and fulfillment significantly lowers post-purchase confusion.
Stronger Pro Loyalty: Positioning Lowe's as a strategic partner that simplifies the logistical headache of project management.
This spec initiative demonstrates the ability to solve complex omnichannel challenges with user-centric design strategy and targeted interaction solutions.