Home Depot ranks No. 39 in WCRC’s America 100 at 74.01. Lowe’s ranks No. 73 at 70.68. Both are in Retail & E-Commerce. Their 3.33-point difference is an overall brand result for the US edition, which does not publish a separate score for trade buyers at the contractor counter. Home Depot scorecard · Lowe’s scorecard
Use the Power Score’s trust and delivery pillars to frame a more specific comparison. Give each retailer the same bill of materials for a job, at the same time of year and in the same local market. Then check how much of the order can be supplied on time, how accurately it is picked and how quickly a missing item can be replaced. Returns and substitutions deserve particular attention because the cost of a mistake can extend to work scheduled around that material. 2026 edition · WCRC methodology
The same retailers may also be serving someone painting a room over the weekend. That shopper can delay the task or make a second trip with different consequences. A useful study would report the trade and household purchase missions separately, then ask where the retailer’s promise is most consistent. The WCRC ranking provides the comparison group and the analytical lens. Matched order and service records would be needed to attribute any part of the score difference to contractor experience.