Lowe’s offers kid’s events, loyalty program as Americans buy homes later

Near expansive aisles of home improvement supplies, some of Lowe’s tiniest shoppers worked this Saturday on do-it-yourself projects of their own.

The children, some as young as 3, sported miniature versions of the retailer’s signature red aprons while hammering together washing machine-themed piggy banks at the retailer’s kids’ workshop at the company’s store in North Bergen, New Jersey.

Lowe’s is trying to attract a younger audience — though it hasn’t suddenly found an untapped market for home improvement spending from preschoolers. When the retailer this month relaunched its Kids Club program and began handing out lollipops to children who visit its stores, it was really a step in a strategy to win more business from younger parents, especially those who aren’t yet homeowners.

It’s not just young parents, though. Lowe’s wants to reel in new shoppers from the Gen Z and millennial generations, which are buying homes later than their parents did. Other moves to win over the cohorts include adding a wider array of merchandise through its third-party marketplace and tapping into 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 put off homebuying until later in life and higher prices of everyday expenses cause more people to postpone big purchases and projects like kitchen renovations. It is adding some of the features through My Lowe’s Rewards, a customer loyalty program for DIY shoppers, which the company launched two years ago and which has grown to over 30 million members.

“What we’ve been challenged with from a marketing perspective and a total brand perspective is how to drive relevancy among consumers who aren’t in the homeowner category or who desire to be in the homeowner category, but aren’t financially able to do that,” Lowe’s Chief Marketing Officer Jen Wilson said.

She said that has encouraged the home improvement retailer to think about “driving relevancy in new ways,” including adding more events and seeking out surprising or buzzy merchandise that may catch the attention of a potential shopper on TikTok.

That’s where kids fit in, too. She said one of Lowe’s surprising findings from market research was the strong influence of children in shaping where their parents choose to shop, especially for millennial parents.

Putting off projects

As home prices and borrowing costs have risen, more Americans have postponed homeownership, a life stage that tends to nudge people toward springing for purchases of paint or hardware, or hiring home improvement professionals like electricians or plumbers. The median age of a first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old, an all-time high, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Home improvement sales have dropped off since the years of the Covid pandemic. Lowe’s expects its total sales to be $86 billion this year. That would represent an increase from $83.7 billion a year ago, but it would be lower than each of the four years before that. Lowe’s also expects comparable sales, an industry metric that excludes one-time factors like store openings and closures, to be flat compared to a year ago.

Compared to its rival Home Depot, Lowe’s relies more heavily on DIY shoppers. About 70% of its sales come from those consumers, with the remainder from home professionals like contractors, roofers and electricians that homeowners typically hire, according to the company.

Home Depot, on the other hand, has historically drawn about half of its sales from home pros and half from DIY shoppers.

Executives from both Lowe’s and Home Depot have said they have seen lower demand for big-ticket items and pricier projects, which they have chalked up to slower housing turnover and economic uncertainty. Housing turnover typically encourages projects, as homeowners spruce up their homes before a sale or fix it up when moving in.

In the meantime, both companies have focused on drawing more pros, which tend to be bigger and more reliable spenders. Home Depot in 2024 acquired SRS Distribution, a Texas-based company that sells supplies to professionals in the landscaping, pool and roofing businesses, in the largest acquisition in its history at $18.25 billion. It’s bought other companies, too, including building-products distributor GMS last year.

Lowe’s made two of its own pro-focused acquisitions last year. It bought Foundation Building Materials, a distributor of drywall, insulation and other interior building products for large residential and commercial professionals, and Artisan Design Group, which provides design services and installation of flooring, cabinets and countertops for homebuilders and property managers.

In the coming year, however, Lowe’s larger reliance on do-it-yourself shoppers may give the company an edge, said Chuck Grom, a retail analyst for Gordon Haskett Equity Research. He upgraded the company’s stock earlier this month from a hold to a buy rating because of signs of an improving housing backdrop.

While the housing market is still challenged, furniture sales have picked up in recent quarters and more consumers appear to be getting used to higher borrowing costs as the “new normal,” Grom said. About 35% of consumers said in the equity research firm’s most recent quarterly survey that they would be willing to buy a home at a 5.5% to 6% mortgage rate. That’s up from about 25% in the third-quarter survey.

The average 30-year mortgage rate has dipped slightly in recent months and was around 6.2% last week.

Those are promising signs that consumers may dip their toes back into more DIY projects, even if recovery is gradual, he said.

Shares of Lowe’s have reflected some optimism about the coming year. Its stock has lagged the S&P 500’s performance over the past year and last five years, but its stock is up about 22% in the past six months. That’s compared to Home Depot, which has seen shares rise about 4% during the same period.

One of the key goals of Lowe’s strategy is giving customers more reasons to engage with its app or website, or make visits to stores part of their routine, even between DIY projects.

Amanda Bailey, vice president of customer marketing and loyalty at Lowe’s, said the company hopes free lollipops, for example, get kids to nudge their parents to stop by a store where they may purchase a few items or give parents a longer time to linger in peace when comparing appliances in the aisles.

Lowe’s is also trying to give shoppers more reasons to join or use its loyalty program. Customers must now sign up for the free monthly Kids Club workshop through the program, and children can collect digital badges on their parents’ loyalty account for completing the projects. Customers can rack up points from purchases that become MyLowe’s money, an incentive intended to get consumers to buy everyday items like household cleaning products or lightbulbs at the retailer.

And Lowe’s plans to expand kids’ workshops, which cater to 3- to 10-year-olds, and add more complex projects for older children and teenagers, she said.

It has also tested other free events for loyalty program members at select stores, including soccer clinics for kids, a ladies’ night out with do-it-yourself projects like terrarium building and a family night out with games and hands-on activities.

“Traditionally, loyalty programs have been around rewarding the transaction,” said Bailey, who previously worked to drive loyalty at brands including Hilton and Tory Burch. “And so now we think about, how can we engage with customers in different phases of their life, in different moments of their life?”

Along with its typical home improvement items, Lowe’s is trying to debut products that surprise customers or go viral on social media. Lowe’s merchandising and marketing teams have started plotting out a 12-month plan of items that the company bets could become trending products, with about three to five items debuting each quarter, Wilson said. Loyalty program members get early or exclusive access to purchase some products, Wilson said.

One of Lowe’s first drops was its branded minibucket, which recently came out in light pink. Its mini-Kobalt toolbox kit, which comes in different colors, also gained traction on social media with customers using them to organize their makeup or store school supplies.

Lowe’s has other items in the works that it hopes will create buzz. These include a scented candle and tote bag that will drop in the spring, Lowe’s busiest sales season, and a pet-themed Advent calendar for the holidays.

“These are impulse buys that are affordable and are great ways to introduce our brands to consumers who wouldn’t otherwise be thinking about us,” Wilson said.

Lowe’s also launched a creator network in June to encourage more influencers to post their do-it-yourself projects or purchases. It also partnered with well-known social media creator MrBeast, who has a storefront on the retailer’s website where customers can shop his favorite items.

And its marketplace, which launched in late 2024, has been a way to add more brands and expand categories.

Gordon Haskett’s Grom said company initiatives to gain customer loyalty, especially among younger shoppers, are important, but “are not going to move the needle right away.”

“They are trying to control what they can control,” he said. “The winds of the housing turnover are hard right now for them.”

Home Depot has also made moves of its own to attract customers, including launching a new platform for creators late last year and creating a new hub on its website with advice and ideas for new homeowners. It has also sped up customer deliveries. Over half of its deliveries are now same-day or next-day, more than triple the number in 2022, the company said at its investor day in December. And it also offers free kids’ workshops at its stores.

Yet as the home improvement retailers try to win a limited pool of business, they’re also competing with independent and specialty home improvement shops, privately held Ace Hardware and retail giants like Walmart and Amazon, which carry some of the same merchandise.

Though they may not yield immediate dividends, events will play a role in that competition moving forward. For families who came to Lowe’s kids’ workshop at the North Bergen store on Saturday, the activity was a welcome way to spend a snowy day and get their kids to work with their hands.

Ivette Crisostomo, a mom from Fort Lee, New Jersey, brought her 3-year-old son, Kai, to the workshop. She coordinated with two friends, who also brought their kids.

“This is like a set playdate for everyone,” she said. “It builds his confidence, too.”

As the event wrapped, it illustrated the goal of Lowe’s strategy. Many parents browsed the aisles after finishing the project. Crisostomo said she sometimes winds up shopping, too.

“My eyes wander and if I do need something, I’ll come to Lowe’s,” she said.