Harbor Freight has been amping up their marketing game recently, and I wondered if their search engine popularity would reflect any changes.
So, I took to Google Trend and ran a 24-month comparison between Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Harbor Freight.
There’s a noticeable uptick in Home Depot and Lowe’s search traffic around March of 2020, with peaks in May of 2020.
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For context, a 5-year trend shows similar peaking at around the same time every year, but with greater amplitude in 2020 due to the COVID19 closures.
I didn’t expect Harbor Freight to see as much search interest as Home Depot and Lowe’s, but I didn’t think I’d see such wide a gap.
But, Harbor Freight is more of a tool, automotive tool, and workshop equipment retailer, with Home Depot and Lowe’s offering much of the same, plus construction materials, building supplies, home goods, lawn products, and more.
Looking at a 5-year trend of just Harbor Freight search interest, and there’s a definite upwards slope. They’re gaining interest and search popularity, with the highest peak occurring in Spring 2020, coinciding with the COVID19 shutdowns.
The question I want to know is whether Harbor Freight is grabbing interest and potentially market share away from Home Depot and Lowe’s or the tool brands these home centers carry.
Here’s the 5-year trend again. Is it me, or is the gap between Home Depot (blue) and Lowe’s (red) getting bigger?
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Frank D
We have a HF across the intersection of the single access street to a little strip mall with a HD, Walmart & Staples behind it. Just a mile away, we pass it on the way to town, grocery store, gas station, etc.
HD & WM always have a busy parking lot and foot traffic during normal hours. HF for months now has hardly any traffic; which I think correlates to their ongoing price increases, removal of coupons and event / printing stop.
Joe
I was at Harbor Freight practically every weekend buying something, whether I needed it or not. When the coupons stopped, I just quit going. It’s been several months now and I’ve taken my business to Home Depot. They have better sales in the tool department.
Austin
same
Leo
Joe, same exact thing happened to me, I was a harbor-coholic, not anymore after what you mentioned
Ray
I’m with you and Austin, once I started having to pay HD prices, I just went to HD since I have to pick up lumber or sheetrock or pipe or whatever…#homeownerlife
Larry
I agree the HF tools are ok if you have a coupon or a free item with them. But if I am going to pay the total price, I’ll go to Lowes, which gives me a military discount.
Michael Hester
Same
MFC
No 20% off?
That was their whole gimmick!
Now they are just a dollar store. Cheap, and not worth it.
Bart
Wonder how long it will take them to realize that though?
I know some of the price increases are probably out of their hands, but the lack of the 20% coupon and what sales they do have are so rarely on anything I need at the moment, I’ve only bought one $5 item there in the past year.
PW
In my case, my actions correlate with these charts – Home Depot has grabbed my attention away from Harbor Freight. But I’m so frequently a contrarian, I almost think that’s a sign HF must be doing well. I’ve heard dueling anecdotes from people during the last year. Some claim their local HF is a graveyard, others saying it’s never been busier.
I was intrigued that they had a coupon out for Independence Day weekend. 10% off anything in store, no exclusions. It was enough to get me to visit for the first time in a year. I then compulsively purchased several items I didn’t intend – just the way I used to behave before their new revamping pricing strategy.
The place was very busy – there was an unrelenting line to the registers the 45 minutes or so I was there.
I am curious about HF’s intentions with that weekend discount. Was HF running a test coupon scheme? Was it a one off or the start of a new holiday weekend pricing strategy? Is it a way to split the difference between their old coupon-heavy strategy to get people in the doors and their new upmarket push?
I wonder if what they were trying to do was accomplished, and what their traffic and transaction numbers looked like. Seems to me they’re still trying to settle out how to compete against home center retailers (which I also perceive as their most direct competition).
John
There appears to be a Covid-related spike going on at Lowes and Home Depot in the first half of 2020. When everyone was stuck at home, people started doing home improvement projects to their occupy time. We painted several rooms in our home and added some barn wood accent walls to avoid going stir-crazy. Our local Home Depot ran out of eggshell paint at one point and had to mix quarts instead of full gallons. I bet it you look at specific search items (paint, lighting, laminate flooring, wallpaper, etc.) you’ll see some crazy search engine spikes too.
Michael Hester
I do work for Lowes through another contractor and have been for years. During the pandemic, anytime I was there to work on anything you would swear it was Black Friday! Full disclosure, I work on their automatic doors so I have a Birdseye view. Plus in conversation with some of the managers at the stores they were even giddy to admit how well their sales were
Albert
When I think about Harbor Freight, I think about those big flyers, big coupons and big weekend sales. I haven’t seen any of those recently. Also their newly branded tools (Bauer, Quinn, Drummond, Icon, etc.) are much better than they used to be (Central Electric, Pittsburg, etc.) but are very close in price to the name brands. I would rather pay just a little more and get Milwaukee, Makita, Bosch, etc. The gap in quality has closed considerably, but so has the gap in price, and I’m not sure if the value is still there.
Steve
HF’s new marketing strategy has driven me away. The stuff in hand tools, workshop equipment, and consumables I used to get there is now more expensive and they don’t coupon it nearly as much anymore. I’m not paying them an annual fee to be in a coupon club either with inferior coupons to their free ones before. I can get most of those things at Menards for a lower price now with an 11% store credit rebate too. I don’t buy my good hand tools there and still won’t touch their mystery manufacturer power tools that they won’t even stand behind for more than 90 days unless you pay them more. Just a few novelty items is all I’d go there for anymore.
Argie
As others are saying there is little point in HF anymore. I’d go for the good deals on the odd tools – heck I even used to buy their tool carts.
I actually bought the Doyel slip Joints and needle nose while doing a project at my Mom’s and they seem to be good quality. But outside of cases like that I’ll stick with my Toolbox tools in my box, planning ahead to buy used versions of them, or just going with the HD/Lowes that are less than 5 minutes from my house.
Plain grainy
Any ideas on why the uptick in March every year. Is it a weather thing? With winter weather easing up? Or can it be possibly tied to sales that are applied every year at that time. I would have guessed the peaks would have been around Thanksgiving sales.
Plain grainy
Could be income tax refunds that spurn buying interest in March.
Don Julio
Spring.
Ross
It stands out to me as funny since the red appears orangish and represents Lowes, and that Home Depot is represented by blue. It makes the chart harder to read, but is amusing.
Frank D
It fooled me!
Thanks for noticing.
Jeremiah Ducate
I was thrown off by something in the chart and didnt realize what until I read this comment
Stuart
Sorry, there’s no way to change the colors. Blue is always the first query, red the second, gold the third, then green and purple.
A W
So if you redo the search comparison as Lowe’s, HF, and then Home Depot, it looks more natural. The gold looks pretty close to HD’s orange on my screen.
Mike (the other one)
The quality of their tools has gotten much better, but the prices have gotten much higher.
Why buy Doyle pliers when Channellock pliers are only a few dollars more, and made in the USA? Why buy Bauer when for just a bit more you can go DeWalt, and know that you’ll be able to get replacement/additional batteries years from now?
HF had a reputation for selling disposable junk, but they wanted to up their game, which is a good thing, IMO, but I think it’s time they start carrying real name brands.
Either that, or go back to the coupons.
David Zeller
I wonder if there is another brand/chain that would be well situated to rush in and take over for HF on the low end. That would be particularly bad for HF, I would think, not fitting a low niche nor a “respectable” one. Any ideas – maybe a market expansion of a dollar store chain, auto parts, catalog?
David Zeller
K-Mart could be re-used!
Jared
What’s Harbor Freight’s online sales experience like? Does it compare to going to the store in-person?
What I’m wondering is, Home Depot and to some extent Lowes, have very comprehensive webstores with discounted or free shipping. I wonder if that plays into the discrepancy too. Home Depot even offers lots of things that aren’t sold in store. If the better deals and more comprehensive product catalogue are only available in a HF store, I imagine there is less reason to visit the website.
I’m Canadian – I’ve never been to a HF (though I hear about it online all the time) – so I don’t know if HF is similar to HD. I poked around on the website, but I’d have to spend some time to figure out how complete the product catalogue is and then fake an USA address to see what shipping was like.
Our Canadian HF counter part – Princess Auto – has an excellent online store and during covid offered free shipping for awhile, then free shipping over $50 and now, as of a couple days ago, free shipping over $100. Obviously slowly moving back to paid shipping (albeit it is usually pretty reasonable).
I certainly made extra purchases over the past year because of the shipping discount. I live a good 45 minutes away from a store, so I didn’t visit that regularly unless I needed something. It was really nice over the past year to use PA much like I do Amazon.
Jekinney
Online experience is lacking. Somethings only available in store, no order online with in-store pickup, and the stock in the store is always way off.
teicher
The 2020 spikes for HD and Lowes are due to DIYers working on their houses during the pandemic, this is well established in the financial news. HF didn’t pick up any of that traffic because they only sell tools, not materials and other home improvement products.
The comment section here isn’t true data, but you can’t ignore what people are seeing, which is HF foot traffic and parking lot vacancy. There are likely a number of factors for this, but one is definitely their business model shift. They made their name selling lower quality but also at a lower price point, to hit a customer who didn’t want to spend the extra money or felt they didn’t need to for what they were interested in. They also trained their customers to use coupons, which boxes them in. HF has been shifting their strategy to sell higher quality products, but those cost more and unless they want to kill their margins they have to sell them for more, and that puts them squarely up against the big boxes. That’s mostly a losing battle, as they don’t have the brand name products to compete, nor do they have their much lower price advantage edge they once had. Pair that with customers who expected coupons and don’t have them anymore, and tariffs on all of their suppliers, and you can see they have a lot of head winds. It also doesn’t help that they opened so many stores so quickly and have lots of debt, that keeps the pressure on to maintain margins on their products.
fm2176
I have almost everything I need within a few miles of the house, with the exception of Harbor Freight. There are two within 15 miles of the house, but both are located off busy routes and I rarely go out of my way to shop there.
As others have speculated, I think that HF’s decision to compete against established brands (with the resultant increase in prices) coupled with their discontinuation of what most people knew them for (freely distributed coupons) is hampering their sales. I was surprised when I stopped into HF last year and couldn’t find the 20% off coupon that used to be on their site. Also, the main reason I went (inexpensive but decent quality nitrile gloves) was heavily affected by the pandemic, resulting in the price skyrocketing…when gloves were in stock period.
In my opinion, the only reason to visit HF over HD or Lowe’s is for the automotive specialty tools. Since Sears has disappeared in most areas, the best place to buy these is HF, unless an auto parts store has a good sale. There are a few other things that might lure someone in, such as other specialty hand tools or cheap disposables and attachments, but for the most part I’ll go to the home improvement stores first.
I’m pretty decent at finding bargains at both Home Depot and Lowe’s, and the former chain still offers a military discount even on clearance items (Lowe’s now marks items as “Lowest Retail Price” and those do not qualify for an additional discount. I can usually get better for less at those two stores, and the last few times I visited Harbor Freight I usually pointed this out to a friend.
I have started visiting Northern a bit more often. They offer a more streamlined tool and jobsite shopping experience than the home improvement stores, have a good mix of both inexpensive and well-respected brands, and are a bit more spread out than most Harbor Freight stores. While their clearance pricing is usually nothing spectacular, they offer both Milwaukee and DeWalt, stock tools and items the big box stores don’t, and have a good selection of OPE, trailer parts, workwear, and welding equipment.
MM
I think my search habits mirror the seasonal trends. More or less the only time I search HD or Lowe’s website is if I’m looking for power tool deals, and I tend to do that around major sales holidays just like the spikes in the search data show. The only time I visit HF’s site is if I’m looking for something in particular, and that doesn’t have anything to do with holidays or big shopping days or anything like that, rather it’s totally random, whenever the job calls for it.
I can think of two reasons why I spend more time/pageviews on the HD site than at Lowe’s. First is that HD’s website is much larger and more complex. For example, for power tool combo deals HD makes a separate web page for every possible combination. Suppose there’s a special on brand X : three tools on sale, each with a “buy-one-get-one-free” option to pick from another three tools. Home Depot would make 9 separate items in their catalog–every possible combination of tool and freebie–each with their own page.
MM
man, the spam filter is really kicking in today…
On the other hand, Lowes would have only three pages, one for each of the main tools. The rest would be done with menus.
The second is that HD seems to have a much broader inventory. I remember looking for wood chippers a while back; Lowes had a handful of options while HD had well over a hundred.
Frank D
I think HD opened up its platform to drop ship from external vendors and is starting to become a digital marketplace as well; as there are loads of things that I have never seen advertised or sold at HD; that are now available for purchase online with shipping.
Flotsam
are you implying a marketplace similar to what Amazon or New Egg offers? Where there are outside companies selling their wares but having a HD store front?
that is something i have not heard yet
Bob
Why not Menards? We have HD, Lowe’s, Menards, HF and Ace all within 1.5 miles of our house. HD, Lowe’s and HR are all kitty corner to each other. HD is my first choice but that’s mostly because they used to have a hot dog stand in the entrance. Hope they get it back as Menards has a taco truck and they’re starting to win my non tool business.
Stuart
Because Menards is a regional chain.
It’s almost like In-N-Out Burger.
You can modify the Google Trend plot as desired. Here it is with Menard’s added in: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=US&q=home%20depot,lowes,harbor%20freight,Menards
Jason T.
How many of you have contacted Harbor Freight about their current business strategy? I contacted them a month ago and let them know why I wasn’t shopping in there as much anymore. I explained that discontinuing of coupons was a huge factor in this. I also told him that what I was hearing from other customers in Harbor Freight the last time I visited was the same thoughts as what I had about discontinuing coupons. I did get a reply, but it was a very cold and canned response.
James
The only reason why I visit Harbor Freight is to buy hundreds of dollars of the Tool Box branded disposable Blue Shop Towels. I used to buy them from Lowes but I think they have a contract with Harbor Freight now.
Albert
Nowadays retailers collect an astonishing amount of data from their customers, not just credit card purchases and web page visits, but where and how long someone spends in an aisle (see bluetooth beacon). I’m sure Harbor Freight knows if there is a problem. Being privately held, Eric Smidt might be willing to take a short term hit while he adjusts his strategy. Or maybe enough people have been buying those $700 service carts to offset the reduced sales of $6 / 100 nitrile gloves before 25% coupon. I miss the old Harbor Freight, but maybe the new one is doing fine.
MM
It’s true that modern companies do collect an astonishing amount of data, but in my opinion it’s largely moot because their data collection can never answer the question “why”.
Sure they can see what terms I type in a search box, maybe they even can monitor how long I spend in an isle. But in the end they do not know *why* I did or did not choose to buy a given product. Even if they have an army of marketing goons (or an AI) reviewing surveillance footage they will never know why I decided to put a product down and not buy it.
Keith Bryce
Here’s the Down Lowes (pun intended), Harbor Freight has shot themselves in the foot over the last 18 to 24 months do to horseshit exec management and (their) market research. Let me explain –
I’m your very typical budget tool buyer, I compare price and quality via buy reviews. The vast majority, like 80% of the tools, ancillary devices, electronics, you name it Harbor Freight brands is cheap crap that might last you a year or 5 to a dozen uses. If that’s all you need if for that wonderful and cheap. The “stuff” at Home Depot or Lowes is top notch brands – Milwaukee, DeWalt, etc – will last you a life time and even their Home brand (pun intended) at HD Ryobi is damn good and economical! I started a home repair biz on the side and my NiCad based yellow original Ryobi set of a 6″ circular, 2-speed drill and Orbit Sander w/2 2000mA batteries and charger I bought on sale 20 years ago is still working like new after 39 kitchen, 24 family room remodels and 18 20 foot long patio covers! Yeah I did buy a lot of batteries over twenty years on Ebay at half price.
Where Harbor Freight has F’ed up is stopping the Freebees, stopping the 20% off coupons, the 4 times a year 25% off coupons, the advertising, the Sales, etc. The stores are bare of impulse buyers and coupon chasers at EVERY location near me. I used to go to HF every other week, now in 2020 I went three times and in 2021 I’ve gone ONCE! Home Depot, I’m at 2 to 3 times a WEEK!
THAT is the Depot Lowes on Harbor WHO?
Flotsam
Coupons? People are complaining about no coupons? I remember a conversation with a cashier at a grocery store long long time ago that guys rarely ever used coupons, (at least in her experience)! Now people are complaining about few coupons at HF??
I don’t know if its a matter of no coupons causing prices to rise. The pandemic has screwed up supply chains in numerous industries! This will take a while to sort out in terms of supply and demand throughout this country. The other fact is HF has improved their products, picked better brand names and may actually be better. Don’t get me wrong I’m not going to get rid of my DeWalt drill & driver and go to Bauer or Hercules. But its not really a joke anymore. I have bought a couple of of corded HF tools that have been really fine, especially in consideration of the reasonable prices i paid. These include a pole saw, a power planer, DA polisher & a bandfile tool. All have been great.
Kane
At the older prices and/or with coupons, there was a large enough price difference between HF power tools and the major brands to consider them; nowadays, the price difference is less significant. Their history of redesigning and/or dropping support on cordless tools every few years hasn’t helped either.
One aspect to note is that HF still only offers a 90-day warranty on power tools whereas the competition offers 3-5 years, or in some cases, lifetime. When Hercules rolled out, they had a 1 year guarantee; recently, those rolled back to 90 days too.
Jerry Romines
There is more of a gap in the graph than I expected.
Daniel
At this point with Harbor Freight, I’m more willing to go to Wal-Mart for their Hyper Tough or newer Hart line. (Both make decent multi tool blades and have good tool bags/boxes)
Everything costs the same if not cheaper, has a ‘normal’ warranty, and I can do some regular shopping while I’m there.
Daniel
Replying to myself:
Hart also already has a rather well filled out lineup on their 20v max tools at Bauer pricing, and Hyper Tough’s $30 drill is actually not half bad for a ‘first drill’ and they both have a 3 year warranty
Michael Hester
It seems they are having a brand reinvention for what reason I cannot figure because with 1100 stores they must have been doing something right with their original business model. Once the 20% coupons ended, they lost my business. If they wanted to be a top quality tool store then they should have found a way to partner with an established company with a strong reputation. Even if it was a minor player such as porter cable or the like. Put a known and highly regarded to brand into the mix and they may be onto something. Instead, they’re asking you to believe that their overpriced icon stuff is equivalent to truck tools. I will admit that the packaging is much more attractive but I’m not out shopping for a fancy box
Michael Hester
I bet they will go back to their original business practices once this one causes them to fall flat on their face. I just don’t see how this would convert to higher sales or public perception of the brand. I mean, you earned the rep you have which has been very successful, i think this will cost them in the long run. If you decide to price some no-name brands approaching the price of tried and true all stars you may want to reconsider their laughable warranty.
A 90 day warranty practically screams that this too will break soon after purchase. If they don’t have confidence that their tools will hold up any better than that timeframe then why should I??
Albert
Not strictly relevant, but I can’t help but smile:
https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/harbor-freight-tools-owner-and-his-foundation-give-50m-to-create-smidt-heart-institute/
Pat McGuire
Since HF sells primarily tools it is no surprise that their activity stays fairly level. HD, Lowes, Menards, etc. sell an extremely wide variety of products for homeowners and those in the building trades so it is no wonder that searches for their products rise at the beginning of spring each year. This post does not provide a fair comparison between HF and the others listed.