Home Depot Shortens Customers' Wait Times
The Home Depot is letting shoppers know that it understands their time is valuable. As of this month, customers can call their local Home Depot store and talk with its AI-powered phone agents, who were designed to get consumers back on the right track with their home improvement projects quickly and easily.
Built on Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, the agents move straight to solving customers’ problems when they state the reason for the call in their own words. The system is designed to understand what they need help with immediately, while ensuring they have the option to speak directly with a human associate. Real-time translations also enable support for customers in any language.
Results from a 50-store pilot show that AI voice agents understand why a customer is calling in fewer than 10 seconds, which the retailer says ultimately helps them work toward a solution four times faster than navigating traditional phone menus.
"When a customer calls us, they just want to get help as quickly as possible," Jordan Broggi, executive vice president of customer experience and president of online at Home Depot, said in a release. "AI does a tremendous job of recognizing customer intent and taking direct action to help complete a purchase or even start a service request. And of course, if they need to speak with an associate, we'll quickly connect them."
Trained on Home Depot's extensive product catalog and "orange apron" knowledge, the system can:
- Get answers without the wait. The AI voice agents are empowered to resolve common customer inquiries from start to finish, such as checking an order status, confirming product availability or providing store information.
- Take direct action to save time. The system moves beyond simply providing information, to acting on behalf of customers. For example, AI agents can initiate service requests, send a product link directly to a customer's pre-filled cart, and even help customers complete a purchase in minutes right from their phones.
- Turn project ideas into ready-to-buy carts. Customers can describe a project in their own words, and the AI voice agent will start building a digital shopping cart with all the necessary items based on real-time online or in-store inventory.
"The Home Depot is a prime example of how retailers and large enterprises can use AI to move beyond automation and deliver real customer value at scale," said Darshan Kantak, vice president, Applied AI, Google Cloud. "By integrating Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience capabilities, The Home Depot isn't just directing traffic or routing calls — it is instantly understanding a customer's true intent and applying the reasoning of an expert associate to find solutions."
Interestingly, Home Depot associates surveyed during the pilot reported higher job satisfaction, with more time to focus on in-store shoppers.
Home Depot plans to expand the AI customer service voice agent system to support all U.S. stores throughout this year.
