Lowe’s employee discount: how it works
Unlike Home Depot, which offers zero merchandise discount to its associates, Lowe’s gives its team 10% off Lowe’s products both in-store and online. That single difference is one of the most cited reasons people choose Lowe’s over Home Depot for retail home-improvement work. Plus access to BenefitHub, a third-party discount platform with savings of up to $4,900 per year, and the package starts to look meaningful.
Here’s the walkthrough from day-one activation through ongoing use, including the partner perks most associates underuse.
Day 1: New hire orientation
The 10% discount is part of standard new-hire benefits at Lowe’s. There’s no waiting period like Walmart’s 91 days. Your discount activates around the time your associate account is set up in the systems, typically within the first week of employment.
During orientation:
- Confirm your Sales Number is set up correctly.
- Note your associate ID, which is what you’ll use at the register.
- Verify your account in MyLowesLife shows the discount eligibility.
- Ask your store about timing for receiving your associate discount card.
Week 1-2: Discount card arrives or activates
Lowe’s issues an associate discount card. Some stores hand it out during orientation; others mail it within the first couple weeks. The card has your associate identification on it.
In some stores, the discount can be applied at the register with just your Sales Number (no physical card required). Confirm with your store on the specific process they use.
Ongoing: How to use the discount in-store
Each visit:
- Shop normally.
- At checkout, identify yourself as an associate (present your card or enter your Sales Number at the keypad).
- The 10% discount applies automatically to eligible items.
- The receipt shows the discount line.
Exclusions typically include:
- Items already on clearance or rollback
- Gift cards
- Sale items in some categories
- Services (installation, delivery, etc.)
For most major purchases (lumber, appliances, hardware, garden), the discount applies cleanly.
Ongoing: How to use it online
For lowes.com purchases:
- Log into lowes.com with the account linked to your Sales Number.
- Add items to cart.
- The discount applies at checkout for eligible items.
Make sure your online account is linked to your Sales Number. New associates sometimes have a personal lowes.com account from before they started working there. Link your new associate ID to make the discount apply.
Family use
Lowe’s permits spouses to use the discount. The card or Sales Number can be used by your spouse on legitimate household purchases.
Dependents have more limited eligibility. Check your store’s specific policy if you want to share the discount with adult children.
Use the discount for legitimate household purchases, not for reselling or for friends. Misuse can trigger account flags.
Ongoing: BenefitHub partner discounts
This is the part most Lowe’s associates underuse. BenefitHub is a third-party platform giving Lowe’s employees access to discounts from external vendors.
What’s available through BenefitHub:
- Up to 50% off hotels
- Up to 40% off movie tickets
- Car insurance discounts
- Cell phone plan discounts (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile)
- Dining gift card discounts
- Vehicle purchase programs
- Theme park tickets
Lowe’s promotes BenefitHub as worth up to $4,900 per year in potential savings. Your actual savings depend on whether you’d buy from these vendors anyway. For an associate who travels frequently or uses cell service, BenefitHub easily exceeds the 10% in-store discount in dollar value.
To access BenefitHub:
- Go to benefithub.com.
- Register using your Lowe’s email or employee credentials.
- Browse categories and use vendor-specific links or codes.
- Track your savings in your BenefitHub account.
Quarterly: Watch for special associate promotions
Lowe’s occasionally runs associate-only promotions beyond the standard 10% discount. These include:
- Seasonal bonus discounts on specific categories
- Black Friday or holiday associate-only events
- Limited-time category-specific discounts (e.g., extra 5% on appliances during a promotion window)
Watch MyLowesLife and your store’s bulletin board for these. They aren’t always communicated in advance.
Annual: Use the discount strategically on big projects
For major projects (kitchen remodel, deck build, flooring replacement), the 10% discount becomes meaningful in dollar terms:
- A $5,000 deck build at 10% off saves $500.
- A $15,000 kitchen remodel in materials at 10% off saves $1,500.
- A full flooring replacement at $8,000 saves $800.
If you’re working at Lowe’s and you have a big home project planned, time it for while you’re still employed. Don’t wait until after you quit.
How Lowe’s compares to Home Depot
This is the question that drives most home-improvement retail associates.
| Benefit | Lowe’s | Home Depot |
|---|---|---|
| Merchandise discount | 10% | None |
| Family use | Spouse can use | N/A (no discount) |
| Partner discount platform | BenefitHub (up to $4,900/yr) | Some smaller programs |
| Stock benefit | No ESPP | 15% ESPP discount |
| Bonus | Annual incentive | Success Sharing semi-annual |
| Emergency fund | Smaller programs | Homer Fund ($300M+ since 1999) |
Lowe’s wins clearly on the day-to-day shopping benefit. Home Depot wins on stock purchase plan and emergency assistance. Over a long career, the math gets close depending on whether you maximize ESPP at Home Depot or whether you do major home projects while employed at Lowe’s.
For more on the Home Depot side of this comparison, see the Home Depot employee discount guide.
How to handle exclusions
The 10% doesn’t apply to everything. Common exclusions:
- Clearance and rollback: Already discounted, doesn’t stack.
- Some Pro Loyalty pricing: Where Pro pricing is below 10% off retail, the customer/Pro price applies.
- Installation services: The labor cost portion typically doesn’t qualify.
- Some major appliance promotions: Sometimes excluded during specific promotional windows.
Always check your receipt. If the discount didn’t apply where you expected it to, ask customer service to verify.
What happens when you quit
Your discount stops immediately at separation. There’s no retiree discount program. Your access to BenefitHub also ends.
If you’re nearing separation, time any big projects before your last day. For more on what happens to all your benefits when you leave Lowe’s, see the Lowe’s quitting process page and the Lowe’s PTO payout guide.
A few Lowe’s-specific notes
The discount is straightforward and predictable, which is its biggest strength. Unlike Target’s wellness tier or Whole Foods’ stacking math, Lowe’s is just 10% off most things. You don’t have to optimize purchase timing or category to maximize savings.
The BenefitHub partnership is the underutilized piece. Most associates only think about the in-store 10%. BenefitHub savings can exceed that in any year where you book a vacation, switch cell phones, or buy a car.
For more on the full Lowe’s benefits package, see the Lowe’s employee benefits page and the Lowe’s employee discounts page.
Final word
The 10% discount is Lowe’s clearest advantage over Home Depot for everyday shopping. The BenefitHub partnership extends that into non-store categories. The structural difference matters most for associates planning home renovations during their tenure at Lowe’s; the savings on a single major project can exceed a year’s worth of incremental Home Depot Success Sharing bonus.
For long-term career math, the choice between Lowe’s and Home Depot depends more on which benefits you’d actually use. If you do big home projects, Lowe’s wins. If you’d maximize ESPP and stay 10+ years, Home Depot’s stock benefit may close the gap. Both are reasonable answers for different people.