Lowe's Q1 Earnings Call Reveals AI Shopping Assistant Is Tripling Online Conversion

During the Lowe's Q1 2026 earnings call on May 20, 2026, CEO Marvin Ellison confirmed that online customers who use Mylow, Lowe's AI-powered shopping assistant, convert at triple the rate of customers who do not. The tool now handles over 1 million customer inquiries per month.

That conversion differential is commercially significant. Online sales grew 15.5% in Q1, Lowe's fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit online growth, and Ellison attributed part of that performance directly to Mylow's enhanced user experience.

"The conversion rate for online customers who use Mylow is triple that of customers who do not use the tool," Ellison said on the call, "suggesting a well-designed agentic AI experience can be a clear driver in the purchasing decision."

Three AI Tools. Three Different Problems Solved.

Lowe's runs parallel AI deployments, one facing customers online and one supporting associates on the store floor.

The customer-facing version, Mylow, helps shoppers navigate product discovery, recommendations, and budget guidance for home improvement projects. Ellison described it as increasingly instructive for understanding agentic commerce, the system learns from each interaction and becomes more accurate over time.

The associate-facing version, Mylow Companion, has now answered more than 5 million questions since its launch.

Joseph McFarland, EVP of Stores, said adoption has spread across all associate tenure levels, including the most experienced staff, whose buy-in Lowe's was initially uncertain about.

New capabilities added in Q1 include voice detection, allowing associates to access information hands-free on the floor, and Spanish language support so associates can query and receive answers in Spanish.

McFarland also disclosed that Lowe's has deployed an AI-powered materials list tool specifically for Pro customers.

Pros can submit project lists in any format, a photo of a handwritten note, a PDF, a spreadsheet, or a typed description, and associates use the AI tool to convert those inputs into actionable quotes.

A process that previously took days now takes minutes, the company said, directly reducing friction for the Pro segment that outperformed DIY for another consecutive quarter in Q1.

Backend and Engineering

Beyond customer-facing and associate tools, Ellison disclosed that Lowe's tech team is using AI for software development and code review, producing double-digit productivity gains.

CFO Brandon Sink confirmed that AI investment is also underway across demand planning, allocation, replenishment, pricing, and promotional platforms, the operational layer that supports front-end sales performance.

Sink described these investments as central to Lowe's $1 billion perpetual productivity improvement commitment for 2026.

Ellison framed Lowe's overall AI approach around three dimensions, “How we sell,” “How we shop,” and “How we work,” and said the combination is making existing associates more effective while also opening new productivity possibilities as AI agents take on more routine tasks.