Home Depot puts an eco-friendly twist on trade-ins for holiday shopping
Filed under: Company News, Economy, Home Depot
Retailers keep getting creative with old concepts to wrest money from reluctant consumers' pockets this holiday season. Now, Home Depot Inc. (HD) is putting an environmental twist on trade-in deals by offering to take back old power drills and Christmas lights in exchange for discounts on new, eco-friendly versions.The hardware chain announced on Friday that from Nov. 5 to 15, customers can bring in old strings of lights and get a $3 off coupon for new LED lights -- which use 80 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs. And through Nov. 8, they can trade in old or broken drills for a 15 percent discount on new drills with lithium-ion batteries, which are supposed to be more energy-efficient and less polluting. Home Depot says it will recycle the old drills.
For Home Depot, it looks like a selfless, earth-aware promotion, a kind of "cash for clunkers" in the hardware and lighting aisles, but it's also a savvy way around a couple of recessionary shopping behaviors.
For one thing, as we've reported, customers aren't as willing to pay more for eco-friendly products during lean years. Just ask Whole Foods Market (WFMI) how it has made adjustments to shed its "Whole Paycheck" image.
Also, as we have heard endlessly since the back-to-school season, consumers are going out to shop less, spending less on each shopping trip and need a lot more incentive to open their wallets. So, stores have gone back to the tried-and-true: Lay-away, Christmas Clubs, and trade-in programs.
Trade-ins are one way to encourage people to buy new stuff because they get two benefits: a discount and the chance to get rid of the old stuff. Toys 'R' Us started out the holiday season by announcing offers to trade in old baby products and video games. The baby-product deal also had a virtuous twist, encouraging parents to get rid of potentially dangerous items that had been missed in product recalls.
Home Depot's green angle also throws in a virtuous twist for shoppers who need more encouragement this year than ever. If the latest surveys are to be believed, consumers plan to spend even less this holiday season than they did last year, and they're limiting themselves to gifts for family while cutting back on extras like decorating.
But merchants know that holiday shopping is all about sentiment and confidence. The former is usually abundant around the holidays, but with nearly 10 percent unemployment, there's little of the latter this year. Throwing a little goodwill to all shoppers into the mix might help shake a few extra dollars loose.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
10-23-2009 @ 3:48PM
kevin said...
Home Depot's got it going!
Reply
10-24-2009 @ 11:26AM
King David said...
BIG DEAL!! All they did is raise the current prices to the amount of the coupon so the "discount" will look like something when it just takes the price back to the RETAIL + prices!!! Suckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10-26-2009 @ 8:06PM
steve said...
This eco-friendly thing is horse-***But there will inevitably be some gullible ex-yuppies who will rush to trade...Those crumby lights are terrible. We will be keeping our people friendly incandescent bulbs and tree-lights. But thanks anyway.
10-23-2009 @ 4:46PM
tom pate said...
Buyer beware, I bought some of Home Depot's store brand indoor/outdoor l.e.d lights 2 years ago and they looked great on the house up until the day it rained and around 400 of 1600 burned out (yes I counted them as I took them down 2 weeks before Christmas cause it looked so bad)
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10-24-2009 @ 8:32AM
ilovecondiments said...
Did you take them back to the store? I hope so!
10-24-2009 @ 11:29AM
The "Doctor" said...
Yea, did you do the INTELLIGENT THING and take them back?? Or are you just complaining so you can make everyone think you're a victim??? If things happened like you said you certainly would have a grievance. So, just what did you do????????????????????
10-23-2009 @ 5:59PM
Cherokee said...
No way would I give up my power drill ! It's a brushed aluminum Chicago that my grandfather bought in 1952. It might weigh a ton but it still works better than anything on the market & looks brand new.
Reply
10-25-2009 @ 3:38PM
evoss said...
Agreed. Things just aren't built like they were back "in the day". I'd take my old, heavy tools any day over the cheap, Chinese-made crap that's in the stores today.
10-23-2009 @ 7:12PM
jmbb1119 said...
yea right ! when are consumers going to learn that there is nothing out there for their benefit... if depot and lowes really want to help consumers, take some of the monies for nascar and advertising and put people to work... ever notice the empty checkout registers... they spend it on self check-out units and don't even offer a discount for using it... world corporations ,banks, and insurance companies need to be put back in place by the consumers... we need to take control of how we spend our dollars...
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10-23-2009 @ 10:38PM
Cheri said...
Kudos to Home Depot for doing something for the enviorment, again. I feel they are a good company and I shop there alot.I always get good help . Why does your atticle have to look for a hidden agenda? Maybe they are just offing another service to the public. I don't see money hungry Wal-Mart or Lowes doing it.
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10-25-2009 @ 12:03PM
Don 101 said...
Cheri
Lowe's is doing the same thing depot is doing just alittle better, their cleaner and have better people working there.
10-23-2009 @ 11:51PM
ZAK said...
Battery-powered drills, saws, etc. are very convenient and they have been greatly improved over the years; however, they are not "eco-friendly" when most people dump the old batteries in the trash. They are really a bad buy for occasional use. Stick with a good quality plug-in electric drill. There are no batteries to wear out, plenty of power, and VERY long-lasting. You can buy an excellent electric drill for much less than most high-end cordless drills cost.
Reply
10-24-2009 @ 12:52AM
George Frank said...
I think it combines environmental concerns with a time-saving convenience for consumers like myself. I often find it difficult, when using my 15-year old power drill, to find an electrical outlet close enough to use the drill without searching for long extension cords.
I will bring the old drill to Home Depot and see how much it will cost to upgrade to a battery drill. If it is a "reasonable" expense I will pay the diffrerence and in doing so will make a tiny contribution to environmental sanity. Disposing of batteries is not a big deal, as many products use batteries these days and it is no longer difficult to dispose of them proprerly.
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10-24-2009 @ 7:48AM
claude said...
leave it to home dumpo
they give you 3 bucks for your old lights sell you new ones that cost 10.00 that cost them a buck in china they make 6 bucks yeah theyre doing you a favor. ever wonder why that this country is in such a mess. its all a scam to get your money. if you want to save the envoroment do this. buy top notch products that wont end up in the trash in two weeks. after you buy them. and buy the way i will put up my old ge chirstmas lights i brought with my mom and dad in 1968 41 years later sockets still work and i want to see those new lights last that long
Reply
10-24-2009 @ 8:40AM
ilovecondiments said...
Claude - you are making a lot of assumptions there... do you work for Home Depot corporate and know what their profit margin is or where the articles are made? I know there are some items that are made in "unfriendly" countries and imported and sold at THD - but if you check your receipt (and I don't know, the BOX they're in?), you will see a symbol or letter next to those items and you can return them. It might even be marked on the shelf and you don't have to buy them! And if you're not in the market for giving up your old lights, guess what? You can keep them! :)
I don't like the very negative thought that every company has SCAMS to GET YOUR MONEY. Making money is called "good business."
Anyone? Anyone?
Reply
10-24-2009 @ 10:55AM
Fred said...
And, at least they give you something for your money. When the Government runs its scams, all it does is take.
10-24-2009 @ 11:47AM
Lex said...
Well said!!
10-24-2009 @ 9:10AM
OLDERFART said...
AHHHH THE JEWS OBSERVING CHRISTMAS AGAIN
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10-24-2009 @ 1:06PM
w said...
THE FOUNDER OF HOME DEPOT IS KEN LANGONE A CHRISTIAN FROM ROSLYN HEIGHTS NY
10-24-2009 @ 1:50PM
M said...
Well..what better day for Jews to celebrate Christmas? Jesus was born that day and he was a Jew!
Go iron your sheets for the KKK meeting you turd.