New Way Now: Lowe’s constructs a sophisticated search engine with Vertex AI

*Featured in this video:* Neelima Sharma, Senior VP of Technology, Omnichannel and Ecommerce Technology *Executive summary:* Home improvement retailer Lowe’s serves a wide range of customers, from professional and DIY builders to “do it for me” consumers who take advantage of Lowe’s services. The retail chain takes an omnichannel approach to meet customers wherever they are. To do so, Lowe’s technology team first chose Google to build their own commerce stack in the cloud, and to help stand up their site reliability engineering (SRE) approach several years ago. More recently, Lowe’s adopted Vertex AI to build a sophisticated search engine. Customers visiting any of Lowe’s 1,700 U.S. locations can now ask questions of the in-store search engine, which can handle complex customer queries on a huge variety of topics, and get the right results. Associates in stores also use the search functionality, allowing them to connect more meaningfully with customers. The customer journey has become truly omnichannel between digital and in-store interactions. *Challenge:* Lowe’s customers span multiple generations, from new homeowners to those aging in place and everyone in between. The search functionality within Lowe’s requires a complex, diverse implementation to serve all those needs, with e-commerce categories including those as varied as buying a kitchen appliance, purchasing a lawnmower, or remodeling a bathroom. The technology team could see that many customers started their shopping journey online, whether they purchased online or went to a store to make the purchase. They had to be there for customers every step of the way. *Solution:* Lowe’s used Google Vertex AI and Google Commerce platform search to build a search engine as part of its broader goal of moving from channel-specific to “channel-less” retail experiences. Using Vertex AI’s search capabilities, customers can now get answers to more complex, long-tail queries. Lowe’s technology team continues to partner w