Can’t Access Home Depot Website

Searching for products for your latest home improvement project can be frustrating when you cannot access The Home Depot website. While this can be inconvenient, there is a good explanation for why the website is not working for visitors.

You might be unable to access The Home Depot website because of the following:

• Temporary server issues
• A DNS failure
  • Defined as when a user cannot connect to an IP address via its domain name
• And the chance that their website is undergoing site maintenance

Either way, the site should come back online sooner than later. While it can be inconvenient to come across a situation where The Home Depot website is unavailable, it should be back and running in no time. If this happens to you, it is best to give their staff time to complete their website maintenance for an optimal online experience.

DNS Issues and the Solution

Forbes suggests that these four items work together correctly to connect successfully. However, with the failure of one, it can lead to the inability to connect to The Home Depot website:

1. Router or modem
2. Browser
3. Computer
4. ISP (Internet Service Provider)

The first step recommended to fix this issue is to restart your device. Often some factors can impact your system, which as when it fails to access the webpage. If this does not work, they suggest trying another browser or restarting your router or modem. Most times, this alone will fix the issue.

There are a few more options to help you before determining that it is a Home Depot issue rather than a user issue, such as updating all software and extensions, checking DNS settings, pausing the firewall, and more. Customers should vet these potential problems before concluding that their internet or device is not the issue.

Gaining Access to the Home Depot Website

The issue that does not let users access The Home Depot website is often as simple as attempting to access it during maintenance or while they have server issues. The Home Depot recommends waiting, but you can call their customer service line if there is an urgency to your request or if you have issues logging into your online account.

Check Permissions

Microsoft recommends that users try to address access-denied errors by going on their web browser, going to the site, and directly clicking on the address bar to click on Permissions. Clicking on Permissions will open a window where users can update their permission settings.

Often it is not one website causing this issue but multiple different pages, so while users can be quick to think it is the one site they are visiting, sometimes it is the computer or mobile device used to access the online store.

If users are accessing the site app or website through a smartphone, they should ensure that they have cell reception or are connected to a good WiFi network. The Home Depot site is cloud-based, so their information is backed up to prevent issues and downtime.

The Home Depot and Google Cloud Servers

Cloud-based websites are meant to melt the physical experience with a digital one. If you cannot find an item at the store, you should look for it online, place an order so that it is mailed to your house, or have it delivered to your local store for later pick up.

Since 2016, The Home Depot has been using Google cloud to house its servers to manage data and inventory calculations. Google Cloud was a great fit for The Home Depot since the mega-home-improvement store has over 2,000 locations to reach its customer base. Additionally, The Home Depot needs space on its website to provide online applications for future employees and customer call center information.

Google Cloud uses The Home Depot as one of its case studies to show the importance and impacts of using the Google Cloud service. Especially for such a large retailer, there are complexities of security and over 700,000 products to be considered. The Home Depot took a while to decide to jump on the opportunity to work with the Google Cloud, but once it did, it worked with BigQuery to house its data.

Google’s BigQuery

As one of the world’s largest home-improvement chains, The Home Depot has invested in its in-store and digital shopping experience with Google BigQuery. Google’s BigQuery Cloud warehouse has built-in machine learning using simple SQL to manage all its data and pull reports quickly.

Additionally, using Artificial Intelligence (AI), BigQuery can develop models and analytics on its trends, including product performance and value predictions for the business.

For example, Home Depot’s data scientists can pull information anytime using Google’s Big Query Cloud, looking for specific trends and data. While this can be done with other database software, Google BigQuery allows everything to be in one place.

Keeping everything in one place creates trackers of trending sales forecasts, identifying what kind of inventory needs replenishing and when it takes into account supply chain issues and creating an overall timely performance of all their metrics.

Customers can search for items through a search feature that uses the human voice to complete searches. This type of search is called the Voice Recognition (IVR) system. In addition, the IVR system implements a self-service functionality to the shopping experience.

The self-service helps shoppers look at the product they bought after making a purchase, see how to start a return or exchange, or any other post-purchase assistance that might be needed.

The Takeaway

While it can be frustrating to come across a website when it is down, it is typically under website maintenance or a connection issue. Although the issue often lies with the user, as technical issues on the customer side happen more frequently, website issues are not impossible.

Website maintenance is needed to optimize the user’s experience and iron out any issues that are either realized or can happen in the future. Plus, it is vital to maintain security to protect the company and its customers. The time used for maintenance is implementing updates to the user interface and experience and optimizing the time it takes to complete an online shopping visit.