🛒 x 🤖 | From Aisles to Algorithms: 5 Plays Retail Can’t Ignore
My Shoptalk Fall 2025 debut put me front row with leaders from the Hardware + Home Improvement Space → The Home Depot, Lowe’s, and ACE Hardware. Three masterclasses on how to scale brick-and-mortar in a digital world squeezed by giants, challengers, and scrappy startups.
This article outlines five thematics for retailers, key takeaways from each executive and what this means for brand leaders.
The 5 Thematics*
1) Omnichannel = Stores as Fulfillment Engines
“Online” and “in-store” aren’t separate worlds anymore. The fastest last mile often starts on the shelf around the corner. Think hybrid delivery, local stores as nodes, and designing journeys that start online and finish in person. Speed wins.
2) AI for Service, Not Just Selling
AI shows up as a coach, an assistant, and a productivity lift. Not a gimmick. Guided selling, on-the-fly training for reps, and smarter recommendations all help customers get it right the first time.
3) Ruthless Focus on Frictionless CX
Kill unnecessary steps. Make inventory reality match what the site says. Test usability with non-experts (“the grandmother test”). Use clear barometers like LTR/NPS. Offer tools that help people visualize, plan, and decide.
4) Data-Driven Ops & Merch
“In stock” isn’t the same as “on shelf.” Map what’s where, diversify fulfillment paths (regional DCs + local stores), and instrument the entire conversion funnel across touchpoints.
5) Loyalty, Community, and Disciplined Testing
Memberships and co-op roots can be powerful moats. Run marketplace trials, reserve budget for experiments (and be willing to kill them), and let brand ethos guide the yes/no list.
* But wait there’s more!
“Home lust. Consider it. Millions of Gen Z and Millennials are emotionally devastated by the very real likelihood that they will never, ever own a home. I wonder why America’s home centers aren’t rising to his need with innovative solutions. This is the single biggest unmet opportunity I see.”
- Adam Hanft, Investor, Advisor & Board Member
What the Leaders Said
The Home Depot — Ann-Marie Campbell, Senior Executive Vice President
Journeys start online, convert everywhere. Roughly 80% of shoppers begin online; many complete the purchase in store. Half of “online” sales involve the store at some point.
Product + experience first. Despite digital growth, ~85% of sales are still in store. So the core store experience matters more, even when thinking digitally.
On-shelf visibility matters. Computer vision + photography map products to shelves, so digital can reflect true availability. Not just “in stock,” but “on shelf.”
AI as a field coach. For pros, reps get a “podcast” of past purchases en route to the job site; AI listens to work, then offers guidance and coaching to lift productivity.
Hybrid supply chain. Eighteen large fulfillment centers plus 2,300 stores create flexible, speed-first delivery.
Keep it human. Retail is a people business. Invest in what you do best, and make the experience visualization-friendly for younger DIYers.
Learn more about Home Depot’s “Magic Apron” AI → Press Release
Lowe’s — Joe Cano, SVP of Digital
Deconstruct the funnel. Multiple touchpoints shape a purchase; optimize each step for a positive experience.
“Mylow” AI assistant. Purpose-built to educate, solve unmet needs, and deliver value. AI as a service, not just sales.
Smart prompts, better timing. A “weather widget” nudges the right maintenance decisions at the right moment—useful, authentic CX.
Usability standards. The “grandmother test” keeps digital simple; “Likelihood to Recommend” sets the bar at 9–10.
Selective expansion. A new marketplace brings in unexpected product and fresh eyeballs—a creative hack on the interest graph.
Value math. Price, selection, availability, speed → optimize the whole stack.
Learn more about Mylow → YouTube Introductory Video
ACE Hardware — Kim Lefko, Chief Marketing Officer
Local authenticity at scale. The co-op model is a real moat; community roots show up as trust.
Service expansion. Evolving into home services alongside four focus categories: paint, power equipment, barbecue, and home preservation.
Simple growth engine. Drive demand (Search), convert (dot-com + in-store), and build loyalty (App).
Disciplined evolution. 5,100 stores, more than HD + Lowe’s combined, 100+ years strong, and a data-driven refresh every 7 to 10 years [about 1,200 stores per year moving to the new format].
Digital traction + loyalty scale. 36% .com growth; 73M loyalty members as a third growth flywheel.
Test with intention. Roughly 10% of the budget goes to hypotheses: test, learn, refine… then kill or scale.
Stay on-brand. The promise, we exist to help others, guides decisions, platforms, and pacing.
Second mover advantage. Don’t innovate for innovation’s sake; protect CX. Launching RedVest Media is a case study in thoughtful timing.
“Retail media is a precisely targeted, measurable marketing toolkit that drives results and we are thrilled that brands will now benefit from these tools at Ace. Our approach to launch has been thoughtful. We’ve been blown away by the reception and can’t wait to see the results RedVest Media will drive for our vendor partners and for our independently owned retailers.” - Molly Hjelm, VP, Head of Retail Media @ ACE Hardware
Learn more about ACE Hardware’s Red Vest Media Platform → Press Release
What This Means If You’re Building in Retail
Plan journeys, not channels. Assume your customer toggles between site, store, and delivery. Build for seamless hand-offs.
Make AI shoulder the labor. Use it to coach staff, pre-answer customer questions, and surface the next best action.
Close the shelf gap. If digital says it’s there, it better be on the shelf. Treat that delta as lost sales.
Instrument the boring stuff. Funnel diagnostics, inventory fidelity & fulfillment routing. These are where the margin lives.
Codify your testing muscle. Ring-fence budget, set kill criteria, and let brand ethos decide where you will—and won’t—play.
“Retail performance media isn’t just about reaching shoppers. It’s about using AI and programmatic to predict their next step, connect store and digital channels, and make every touchpoint seamless, frictionless and accountable..”
- Adam Ortman, Founder & CEO @ Kinetic319
If you want to dig deeper into any of these threads, I’m happy to share more of what I heard at Shoptalk. Hope this was useful—and huge thanks to these leaders for the clarity and candor.
