Lowe’s is finding success with a strategy to make its home improvement content more easily accessible via a new iPad application that has been one of the top-five iPad apps in Apple’s App Store for the past couple of weeks.

Retailers such as Lowe’s are looking for ways to leverage the power of mobile to reach new audiences, create opportunities for deeper engagements with customers and drive the mcommerce strategies.  The home improvement retailer launched an iPad version of the Lowe’s Creative Ideas magazine in February and it has been a top-five free app since March 6.

“The app launched on Feb. 3 and is a digital version of the Lowe’s Creative Ideas print magazine,” said Colleen Maiura, a spokeswoman for Lowe’s, Mooresville, NC. “The app allows users to find inspirational home improvement content when and where they are looking for it.

“Lowe’s is striving to make home improvement simple for our customers, and the Lowe’s Creative Ideas app helps make inspirational and how-to content more accessible,” she said.

Embracing iPads
Lowe’s is supporting the new Creative Ideas magazine iPad app with a national TV ad.

With smartphone and tablet owners increasingly using their devices to access news, magazine and other content on the go, it is not just traditional publishers that are creating mobile content strategies. Retailers such as Lowe’s also see an opportunity here to reach mobile users.

IPads, in particular, are attracting the attention of retailers. Many have created iPad-optimized experiences and discovered that this can be a good way to drive sales.

Extending the tablet strategy to the exclusive content that retailers publish in print and online makes sense because  publications such as Lowe’s Creative Ideas are all about the products that are found at the retailer and how to use them.

Magazine content on iPads also attracts the young, affluent consumers that many retailers covet.

However, it is important that the mobile content has value to customers or retailers risk turning off customers and driving them to other mobile content.

Multifaceted mobile strategy
The latest issue of Creative Ideas highlights season’s hottest paint colors, tips for tackling spring cleaning and gardening, ideas for Mother’s Day and other budget-friendly, do-it-yourself project ideas.

The Lowe’s Creative Ideas magazine is also available in print through a free subscription and accessible online .

Lowe’s has also developed a social strategy for Creative Ideas, with many of the magazine’s project ideas on Pinterest boards at Pinterest.com/Lowes. The retailer also works with home remodeling and design social site Houzz.

The Creative Ideas app is just one of several ways that Lowe’s is enlisting mobile technology to enhance the customer experience.

The retailer also provides Wi-Fi in all of its stores so customers can easily access the Internet via their smartphones while shopping in-store and look for ideas.

In the fall, Lowe’s began deploying approximately 42,000 iPhones in its stores to make it easier for employees to help shoppers and complete transactions (see story).  

Lowe’s is the second largest home improvement retailer in the world and operates 1,745 home improvement stores in the Unites States, Canada and Mexico.

“Lowe’s is promoting the app through multiple channels, including the Lowe’s Creative Ideas print magazine and online Web site as well as through a national television spot,” Ms. Maiura said.