Home Depot Launches 'Magic Apron': AI-Powered Customer Service Tool to Boost Online Shopping Experience

Home Depot Turns to AI to Answer Online Shoppers' Questions

Home Depot Inc. is betting on generative AI to improve online shopping -- part of the big-box retailer's efforts to revive sales and get back to steady growth. A new tool on the home-improvement chain's website helps answer shopper questions about specific products and projects. In the coming months, the company will also offer features like design ideas, product comparisons and recommendations.

Home Depot launches Magic Apron, a generative AI customer guide

Home Depot has rolled out an online concierge, powered by generative artificial intelligence, to help answer customers' questions about millions of products and even how to get projects done. The Georgia-based home improvement giant said Magic Apron is powered by advanced large language model tools and can provide real-time answers online like its associates can in stores. Home Depot started rolling out Magic Apron to its main website, homedepot.com, and its app in recent months. The AI concierge can be found in a chat bar on millions of product pages. Home Depot has used AI at scale on its website for a decade, said Jordan Broggi, executive vice president of customer experience and president of the company's online operations. The company now uses generative AI to produce text and visual content. Magic Apron goes further. It can answer detailed questions about hardware and other merchandise, summarize product reviews and give project recommendations. "Magic Apron is a subset of generative AI, and for us it is our version of bringing that aproned associate experience that customers love in the aisles of our store into the digital aisles," Broggi said in an interview Wednesday. Home Depot joins the ranks of companies rolling out AI-powered tools to help assist customers. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines has also used AI as part of its website for years. In January, the carrier announced its Delta Concierge chatbot to help enhance and further personalize online customer service. Broggi said Magic Apron's model has been trained using Home Depot's proprietary knowledge and its product catalog. He said company experts and Home Depot data scientists have helped teach the model to refine its answers. In stores, conversations between customers and Home Depot associates often start with merchandise. With some questioning by associates, those conversations evolve into project discussions. Broggi said that's the intent with Magic Apron. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter inquired with the chatbot about staining a deck, including the types of stains one might use and how many coats to apply. The chatbot provided a listing of stains by type and information about the preferred frequency of application by product. It also displayed information about how to prepare the work site and steps for applying different types of stains. "It has a contextual understanding of where you are," Broggi said. Home Depot will soon roll out the AI tool to its website for professionals, with guidance tailored to contractors and other business customers. In a news release, Home Depot said additional functions will be added, including "project inspiration, design ideas, product comparison and recommendations." Ultimately, the Home Depot concierge will gain the capability of remembering past discussions and order histories to better understand customers' needs, Broggi said. 2025 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Meet Magic Apron: Home Depot Launches Generative AI Tool To Enhance Spring Shopping - Home Depot (NYSE:HD)

Home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc HD has introduced a new tool named Magic Apron which utilizes generative AI to support customers with various home improvement tasks. Created to address both how-to and product-related queries, Magic Apron provides expert help in time for the busy spring shopping period. Available 24/7, it assists customers with their project and product questions at any time. Magic Apron is a unique set of tools driven by advanced language models. These models are trained on The Home Depot's product database and project expertise, as well as a wide array of online sources, to enhance search results and provide better customer support. With its debut, Magic Apron stands as the first AI-powered tool specifically designed for the home improvement industry, according to Home Depot. Also Read: Why Is Nauticus Robotics Stock Soaring Today? "Home Depot customers have always relied on the expertise of our orange-aproned associates in the aisles of our stores to answer questions and help them solve problems," said Jordan Broggi, executive vice president of customer experience and president - online. "Magic Apron is designed to bring that same expertise to the digital world, leveraging our proprietary knowledge base to support our customers and give them the confidence to tackle their home improvement projects, anytime, anywhere." For instance, customers getting their lawns ready for spring can ask Magic Apron questions about aerating, overseeding, fertilizing, and controlling weeds. The tool provides step-by-step instructions, product recommendations, and expert advice. Currently, Magic Apron is available on millions of product pages on homedepot.com and through The Home Depot's mobile app, offering customers easy access to helpful project guides and product reviews. Magic Apron will soon be available on The Home Depot's Pro B2B site, providing tailored support for professional contractors and business account users. Price Action: HD shares are trading higher by 0.17% at $387.00 at last check Thursday. Read Next: Disney Cuts 200 Jobs Across ABC News And Disney Entertainment Networks: Report Photo: Sockagphoto via Shutterstock. HDThe Home Depot Inc$386.740.10%Overview This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Home Depot Reportedly Banking on AI to Rebuild Sales | PYMNTS.com

Home Depot has reportedly begun using generative AI to bolster its online shopping services. The goal is to give consumers the same level of customer service on the company's website as they'd find in brick-and-mortar locations, Jordan Broggi, executive vice president of customer experience and president of online for the home improvement retailer, told Bloomberg News in an interview published Thursday (March 6). The new artificial intelligence (AI) tool, the report said, helps shoppers answer questions about products and projects, with plans to eventually add features such as design ideas, product comparisons and recommendations. Broggi noted that the company faces some challenges here, such as consumer ambivalence toward AI and finding ways to offer the option without it becoming a distraction. The report points out that Home Depot has used generative AI on its website and mobile app for about a year, with plans to expand this use into functions such as summaries of product reviews. In addition, the retailer also plans to employ the technology to help professional contractors and business account customers. Home Depot's professional customer base has become increasingly important as sales to do-it-yourself users have slipped in recent quarters. Broggi said during the company's earnings call that online and pro consumers were benefiting from an improved site experience from a browsing and search perspective. "All those investments are coming together to drive an improvement in conversion rates and increased engagement across channels," Broggi said. "We're excited about the momentum there and excited about the investments we've made there." As noted here at the time, the company's focus on omnichannel shoppers could hold promise. After all, research by PYMNTS Intelligence shows nearly 40% of consumers are now click-and-mortar shoppers, searching for products through both digital and physical channels. "For these shoppers, the physical store serves as an extension of their online experiences," PYMNTS wrote. Meanwhile, Home Depot is just one of many retailers embracing AI. For example grocery chain Aldi recently announced it would begin using Digital Wave Technology's generative AI solutions in the U.S. to automate the creation of product copy and product attribution. A little more than three-quarters of business leaders rank generative AI as the most impactful emerging technology, according to research from the PYMNTS Intelligence and AI-ID collaboration, "What Generative AI Has in Store for the Retail Industry." The report also found that marketing and sales functions are leading generative AI efforts at 16% of consumer and retail companies, with 57% of marketing and sales teams pursuing GenAI initiatives compared to 31% of departments in other industries.

Home Depot launches Magic Apron, a generative AI customer guide

By J. Scott Trubey, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The Tribune Content Agency Home Depot has rolled out an online concierge, powered by generative artificial intelligence, to help answer customers' questions about millions of products and even how to get projects done. The Georgia-based home improvement giant said Magic Apron is powered by advanced large language model tools and can provide real-time answers online like its associates can in stores. Home Depot started rolling out Magic Apron to its main website, homedepot.com, and its app in recent months. The AI concierge can be found in a chat bar on millions of product pages. Home Depot has used AI at scale on its website for a decade, said Jordan Broggi, executive vice president of customer experience and president of the company's online operations. The company now uses generative AI to produce text and visual content. Magic Apron goes further. It can answer detailed questions about hardware and other merchandise, summarize product reviews and give project recommendations. "Magic Apron is a subset of generative AI, and for us it is our version of bringing that aproned associate experience that customers love in the aisles of our store into the digital aisles," Broggi said in an interview Wednesday. Home Depot joins the ranks of companies rolling out AI-powered tools to help assist customers. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines has also used AI as part of its website for years. In January, the carrier announced its Delta Concierge chatbot to help enhance and further personalize online customer service. Broggi said Magic Apron's model has been trained using Home Depot's proprietary knowledge and its product catalog. He said company experts and Home Depot data scientists have helped teach the model to refine its answers. In stores, conversations between customers and Home Depot associates often start with merchandise. With some questioning by associates, those conversations evolve into project discussions. Broggi said that's the intent with Magic Apron. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter inquired with the chatbot about staining a deck, including the types of stains one might use and how many coats to apply. The chatbot provided a listing of stains by type and information about the preferred frequency of application by product. It also displayed information about how to prepare the work site and steps for applying different types of stains. "It has a contextual understanding of where you are," Broggi said. Home Depot will soon roll out the AI tool to its website for professionals, with guidance tailored to contractors and other business customers. In a news release, Home Depot said additional functions will be added, including "project inspiration, design ideas, product comparison and recommendations." Ultimately, the Home Depot concierge will gain the capability of remembering past discussions and order histories to better understand customers' needs, Broggi said.