Lowe’s sounds the alarm as customers change their tune Patricia Battle May 24, 2026 6 min read Over the past few years, the sluggish U.S. housing market has weighed heavily on home improvement retail, and Lowe's hasn't been immune. After weak sales growth in 2025, the home-improvement retail chain has recently expanded its deals and services to win back customers. As these changes roll out, Lowe's has noticed a concerning shift in how customers are shopping in its stores.
In the first quarter of 2026, Lowe's saw its comparable sales increase by 0.6%, compared to the same quarter the year before, according to its latest earnings report. Also, recent Placer.ai data revealed that foot traffic in Lowe's stores during the quarter spiked by 2% year over year. The small lift in demand comes at a time when Lowe's has been focusing on making the customer experience more seamless, especially for its Pro customers (residential and commercial trade professionals).
In February, it expanded product access and added digital tools to its Pro Extended Aisle, a digital catalog that gives Pro customers access to real-time inventory and pricing. The following month, Lowe's introduced a HomeCare+ subscription for MyLowe's Rewards members, offering seven essential home maintenance services for $99 a year. Additionally, it began offering free same-day delivery to MyLowe's Rewards members who make online purchases of $25 or more.
Lowe's sees a shift in how customers are shopping During an earnings call on May 20, Lowe's Chief Financial Officer Brandon Sink revealed that the average amount of money Lowe's customers spent per purchase in comparable store locations during the quarter increased by 1.5% year over year. This was mainly driven by "modest price inflation" and a boost in appliance sales. However, the number of transactions customers made at these locations declined by 0.9% due to continued low DIY (do-it-yourself) discretionary purchases.
Sink said customers are scaling back large discretionary purchases in the DIY category and are instead focusing on tackling smaller home improvement projects. Related: Home Depot and Lowe's quietly gain new rival "DIY (is) still very much engaging, but it continues to be in the repair, maintenance, replacement-related categories," he said. I would say this has been a trend now for multiple years.
The categories that are related to big-ticket discretionary are those categories in merch divisions that sort of continue to lag." Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison said during the call that the company is noticing a shift in how higher-income customers shop compared to lower-income customers as economic pressures mount. Story Continues "What we've seen so far is what we've seen all year long, and that is we're operating and what we would describe as a K-shape economy where the higher-income consumer spends and they're spending on innovation, and they're spending on things to modernize their home, and the lower-income consumer is a little bit more cautious and a little bit more uncertain based on all of the macro factors that we all know so well," said Ellison. Lowe's customers are cutting back on purchases for large home-improvement projects.Photo by Scott Olson on Lowe's CEO reveals why customers are shifting gears He also flagged that challenges in the U.S. housing market are negatively affecting DIY customers.
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