By fusing customer insight with AI innovation, home improvement giant Lowe’s is building what it hopes will be the most seamless home improvement experience online.

For Joe Cano, SVP of digital at Lowe’s, success hinges on understanding customer needs and using technology to deliver on it. “People are telling us what they want,” he tells Inside Retail’s Amie Larter for the latest edition of the video series Retail Transformers.

“So we are collecting all of that data and asking what we can personalise for this customer to make their journey seamless and a great experience.”

Under Cano’s leadership, Lowe’s has built a more intuitive and connected digital ecosystem, designed to remove friction while helping shoppers envision and create their ideal spaces.

That focus on customer insight is paying off: Lowe’s’ ‘likely to recommend’ score is rising every year, a sign Cano says proves the value of listening first and then innovating. “It helps ensure the business is applying its tech teams to the things likely to excite customers the most,” he explains.

Jumping into the home improvement space

When Lowe’s first tapped Cano – who had built his career leading digital transformation at Walmart, Zappos and Saks Fifth Avenue – he wasn’t looking to move. But the chance to help turn Lowes.com into a best-in-class digital experience was too good to ignore. “There are not many companies out there where you could come in at a website this big and make some of the amazing changes that I had. 

“I was almost shocked when I was interviewing. I’m like, ‘Is everybody this excited and kind and innovative and wants to change?’ At companies this big, you don’t see that very often. So I was just enthralled. I felt like ‘I need to work at this company’. This doesn’t happen very often, so I wanted to be a part of this transformation and help lead it.”

Cano’s husband, Cole, is an interior designer who was eager to share his frustrations and challenges when discovering and ordering materials for projects. 

“Having Cole in the background saying ‘Fix this, can you do this?’ was great because it’s like I’ve got insider knowledge. And I have a boss who says, ‘Do what you need to. This is what I want you to perform. The culture there is honestly one of the best I’ve ever seen. 

Cano and his team review customer feedback data weekly, stating that these insights drive everything from merchandising decisions to customer experience design. “I look at the voice of the customer data every single week, and I say, okay, what do you want? What are you excited about?” he shares.

When shifting focus from apparel to home retailing, Cano notes that the buying journey tends to be longer and more complex than in fashion. “We usually don’t walk into a store and say, ‘That’s the refrigerator that I want, I’m going to buy it right now’,” he explains. “You search, you look for it,” a process which helps his team understand what customers actually want.”

Eliminating ‘customer paper cuts’

Cano likes to remove what he calls “customer paper cuts” in the online shopping process – things where customers hit a wall, they can’t check out, or their order wasn’t delivered. “I’ve undertaken some restructuring to ensure that we solve customer problems even before they arise. We proactively reach out to customers if we are aware of any issues. That has been the remit: To focus relentlessly on those customers and ensure that we deliver the best possible service we can.”

When rebuilding the company’s website and app experience, Cano’s team used customer groups to gather feedback on proposed features and met with partners such as OpenAI and Perplexity to learn about search trends among consumers.  

“We are working on all that right now because that’s what customers want. Think about when you go to Pinterest and you’re like, oh, these are all great, but it’s not my space. Will this actually work?” 

Personalising the shopping experience is critical to Cano. “They want to see that right there at the click of their phone or their computer because most people, after they’re done with work, they are exhausted and will go and watch TV, but they are also going to be on their phone doing other things. We want them to be on the Lowe’s app to do those other things.” 

With all the innovation, the Lowe’s team is careful to step back and look at what will offer the best value for its customers. “That leads our entire roadmap. And that’s what’s really exciting. After they’ve seen the results for how amazing our dot-com business is running right now, they’re pushing forward and asking what else we need and what else they can do, which is so exciting … to be almost like a startup within this massive organisation that is a Fortune 50 company.” 

Cano says Lowe’s is not done with innovating just yet. “We are just at the base of the mountain. We will consistently innovate, and you can expect to see new customer features rolling out almost every month this coming year. I am so excited to see what the new Lowe’s is going to bring.”

• Watch the video interview to learn how Cano manages the adoption of AI tools by staff and overcomes fears that the technology might cost jobs, and other insights into his role with America’s largest home improvement retailer.