The retrenchment at Home Depot Direct apparently continues. Yesterday, Internet marketing firm SendTec released a statement saying that Home Depot has terminated its agreement with SendTec to provide third-party advertising on HomeDepot.com.
When the program was announced in July under the retailer’s previous leadership, Home Depot said it had already signed up several vendors for the program. Then Home Depot’s chairman/CEO Robert Nardelli left the company and was quickly followed by Home Depot Direct president Harvey Seegers. At the same time, Home Depot Direct was integrated into the company’s merchandising division. In the fall, Home Depot, Atlanta, folded two of its catalogs, Paces Trading Company and 10 Crescent Lane.
Yesterday’s announcement by SendTec, St. Petersburg, FL, puts an end to a program that enabled Home Depot vendors to place an ad on HomeDepot.com. When consumers clicked on the ad they would enter the advertiser’s branded site. The goal was to provide a way for consumers to experience more interactive demos, streaming video and in-depth product content than what was already available on the Home Depot site.
Bath and kitchen fixtures manufacturer Moen Inc. was one of the companies signed up at the program’s launch. However, when reached yesterday, a company representative said that “internal factors” at Moen prevented the company from ever actually participating in the program.
Neither Home Depot nor SendTec could be reached immediately for comment.
The Home Depot Web site currently does have third-party ads from a car manufacturer that were placed by Internet advertising company Doubleclick.
