I shopped at Home Depot and Lowe’s, the top home improvement stores in the US, and Lowe’s was the clear winner

• Home Depot and Lowe’s – two of the top home-improvement stores in the US – offer similar product workshops and installation services.
• While Lowe’s has been around for 30 years longer, it has fewer stores than Home Depot. Home Depot has 2,286 store locations while Lowe’s has only 2,002.
• In 2019, Lowe’s customers were more satisfied than Home Depot’s, but not by much. So I went to a Home Depot and a Lowe’s in Brooklyn, New York, to see which store was better.
• Lowe’s won me over with their superior price-matching policy and an immaculate atmosphere for making home-improvement decisions.
• Lowe’s was much more organized than Home Depot, leaving me in a better headspace.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

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I went to Lowe’s first, and I found that it provided a better shopping experience than Home Depot overall.

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The first thing I noticed about Lowe’s was how it mentally took me right back to the suburbs. Walking up to the door, I felt like I could have been in the middle of suburbia because of all the open space.

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Home Depot felt more urban because what was empty space in front of Lowe’s was a parking garage and garden section in front of Home Depot.

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While both stores provided interactive shopping experiences …

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… Lowe’s had a slight edge when it came to its low prices and atmosphere.

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Sometimes when a customer finds an item at another store for a lower price, companies will sell the item to the customer for that same lower price. This is called a price matching policy.

Source: Home Depot, Lowe’s

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Both Lowe’s and Home Depot offer price matching but Lowe’s has a slightly better policy. While both stores give customers an additional 10% off of that lower price…

Source: Home Depot, Lowe’s

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… Home Depot’s policy has more restrictions than Lowe’s’. Home Depot requires you to have a lower price when purchasing the item.

Source: Home Depot

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Lowe’s’ policy gives customers 30 days after purchasing the item to find a lower price. This way customers can focus on purchasing the best product for them and worry about getting the best deal later on.

Source: Lowe’s

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Lowe's had a better atmosphere than Home Depot too, thanks to its use of color and cleanliness.

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Colors have emotional effects on people, and Home Depot's color of choice is orange.

Source: Business Insider

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Now don't get me wrong — I love orange. It's my favorite color ...

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... but seeing so much of it in one place made me feel like I was supposed to be in a hurry.

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That's because orange sends an aggressive message. It gives the customers a sense of urgency or a call to action.

Source: Business Insider

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Meanwhile, at Lowe's, the color blue creates a sensation of trust and security.

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If I was working on a home improvement project, I'd like to feel comfortable taking my time.

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Lowe's' blue branding gave me a sense of calmness as I roamed the store. But it wasn't just the color that kept me calm.

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Lowe's was also significantly neater than Home Depot.

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The display area was clear of any extra stuff that's not meant to be displayed ...

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... like the packaged appliances which were too close to the model kitchens at Home Depot ...

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... or the backs of refrigerators that were visible in Home Depot's display area.

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The display area at Lowe's was like a shiny walkway with shelves of products neatly surrounding it ...

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... while Home Depot's display area was more like an actual maze, with random opened boxes creating dead-ends.

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Overall, Home Depot was a bit of a struggle to get around.

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Like in the indoor plant section, where large plants were placed sporadically on the ground ...

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... blocking the aisles ...

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... which were already quite narrow.

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A couple of plants were out of place at Lowe's, too. But the wider aisles made it less of an issue.

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Sale sections at Home Depot were seemingly randomly placed.

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In fact, a lot of products seemed to be randomly stacked on the floor, blocking walkways.

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This made the store appear sloppy ...

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... especially since every aisle was so specifically labeled.

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While Lowe's and Home Depot have their differences, both stores provided a guided and interactive experience.

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Both stores had clearly labeled aisles and items.

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But Home Depot has an app that directs you to the item you're looking for.

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Through research, I found out Lowe's has an app that does the same thing. It's just not well-advertised in-store.

Source: Digital Trends

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Both stores also provided directions for setting up most of their products.

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And both stores had interactive elements to draw the shopper in, but some were more practical than others.

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For example, Lowe's had carpet and flooring samples that you could hold in your hand ...

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... which is great, except that I would never have the desire to touch the bottom of a carpet in my own home. I'd rather just feel it against the surface of something else.

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Luckily, I could do that at Home Depot with their more practical display.

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Lowe's had a more interactive shower display.

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They had many backlit tubs and showers on display for different types of homes.

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And they were all at floor-level, so you could stand inside of them.

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Meanwhile at Home Depot, only three showers were at floor-level.

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One was on the top shelf, so it was difficult to even see, much less stand inside.

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But both stores had adequate interactive displays of products you can control with your hands.

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It was especially nice to be able to see how touch-control products felt, like the thermostats on display at Home Depot.

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But Lowe's took it to the next level with a drill sampling station, where customers can drill holes into this wood plank to test out the products.

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While both stores will get you started on your next home improvement project, the organization and price points at Lowe's will make you feel more at ease while doing it.