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Harbor Freight has been amping up their marketing game recently, and I wondered if their search engine popularity would reflect any changes.
So, I took to Google Trend and ran a 24-month comparison between Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Harbor Freight.
There’s a noticeable uptick in Home Depot and Lowe’s search traffic around March of 2020, with peaks in May of 2020.
For context, a 5-year trend shows similar peaking at around the same time every year, but with greater amplitude in 2020 due to the COVID19 closures.
I didn’t expect Harbor Freight to see as much search interest as Home Depot and Lowe’s, but I didn’t think I’d see such wide a gap.
But, Harbor Freight is more of a tool, automotive tool, and workshop equipment retailer, with Home Depot and Lowe’s offering much of the same, plus construction materials, building supplies, home goods, lawn products, and more.
Looking at a 5-year trend of just Harbor Freight search interest, and there’s a definite upwards slope. They’re gaining interest and search popularity, with the highest peak occurring in Spring 2020, coinciding with the COVID19 shutdowns.
The question I want to know is whether Harbor Freight is grabbing interest and potentially market share away from Home Depot and Lowe’s or the tool brands these home centers carry.
Here’s the 5-year trend again. Is it me, or is the gap between Home Depot (blue) and Lowe’s (red) getting bigger?
