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Home Depot is rolling out a new, homegrown app developed to help employees in the stores prioritise tasks more effectively. The app, dubbed Sidekick, is a new addition to hdPhones, the world market leader's mobile devices dedicated to improving the associate and customer experience.
Powered by machine learning (ML), the app guides staff members to prioritise the highest demand product, which shelf to restock, and the location of the excess products on overhead shelves. Sidekick saves time and increases productivity for associates, according to the company. The app helps them to determine which tasks are actionable and when they should be completed and to detect and fill out-of-stock products, as well as to locate products in stores. It alerts specific associates about which tasks need to be completed first and showcases where and how to complete a task in a dashboard with associate and manager views.
"The first step to customer service is being in stock with the right product that's easy to locate," says Muzammil Akram, vice president for store technology at Home Depot. "Equipping our associates with innovative technology is one key factor in delivering on that initiative."
The Sidekick release closely follows the launch of hdPhones, a customer service-driven device developed in collaboration with Zebra Technologies, HPE and Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company. With the widespread rollout of hdPhones, Home Depot became the largest user of the latest generation of Zebra devices. Since the launch, Home Depot has rolled out more than 99 000 devices, removing friction from the home improvement retail experience across all US stores.
Home Depot has already installed Sidekick in more than 600 stores and plans to expand deployment to all US stores by the end of the 2022/23 fiscal year.
