Lowe’s became Bilt’s exclusive home improvement partner on November 10, so Bilt’s more than 8 million members now earn one Bilt Point per dollar at Lowe’s.
If you sell appliances, grills, patio sets, HVAC or other home products, Lowe’s sells what you sell, and any change to how its shoppers earn rewards changes the comparison your buyer makes. I track moves like this for store owners at Ecommerce Paradise. That matters most if you run a high-ticket dropshipping store in a home or outdoor niche.
The earn rate is a base rate, not a price cut. Bilt did not put a dollar value on a point in the announcement, and Lowe’s CEO told investors in August that the consumer is cautious. My read is that this is a loyalty story, not a pricing story, so your answer should be service and not a race to discount.
Below I cover what Bilt and Lowe’s announced, how Bilt got here, and what I’d do about it, including five moves to make before Lowe’s reports third quarter results on November 18. I read both companies’ releases plus coverage from Digital Commerce 360, InsideFlyer, View from the Wing and Retail TouchPoints, and I flag where a number is Bilt’s own claim.
Big retailers pay shoppers in points, so earn on your own spend too. Put ad spend and inventory on a business card that rewards you, and start with my current picks. See my business credit card picks →
Lowe’s Bilt Deal: 1 Point Per Dollar for 8 Million Members
Lowe’s listed the partnership in its newsroom on November 10. Bilt’s press release says members who link a MyLowe’s Rewards account earn 1X Bilt Points on net eligible Lowe’s purchases. Net means after returns, credits and discounts.
Online orders require a signed-in Lowe’s account. In stores, shoppers give the phone number tied to MyLowe’s Rewards or scan a member ID, according to InsideFlyer. The same report says points are expected to post within five to seven days.
MyLowe’s Rewards benefits still apply, per Bilt, including free shipping outside Alaska and Hawaii and member deals. Digital Commerce 360 reports that Lowe’s has more than 30 million MyLowe’s Rewards members, citing Lowe’s 2025 annual report. It adds that those members shopped twice as often and spent more than 50% more than nonmembers.
Bilt members can also pay for Lowe’s HomeCare+ with Bilt Cash, Bilt Points or a linked card. The subscription costs $99 a year and includes two in-home visits covering up to seven maintenance services, 5% off products used during those services and Gold MyLowe’s Rewards status. It is available only in select ZIP codes and renews automatically, per Bilt.
Two dates matter. Matching with existing MyLowe’s accounts is planned for December, and a curated Lowe’s marketplace inside Bilt follows in early 2027, according to Digital Commerce 360. Lowe’s said on November 11 that it will host its third quarter earnings call on November 18.
Jen Wilson, Lowe’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, said in the release, “Together, we’re helping to make it easier and more rewarding to turn a house into a home.” Ankur Jain, Bilt’s founder and CEO, said, “Members can use their Bilt Cash and Points for services that care for their homes.”
The deal runs through Bilt Neighborhood OS, an AI commerce platform that connects a merchant’s payment, point-of-sale and reservation systems so it can recognize shoppers and target offers. Bilt says its AI agents completed more than 2 million actions across more than 29,000 businesses in the 30 days before the announcement, and that 91% needed no human intervention. Those are Bilt’s own figures. The release also lists Lowe’s fiscal 2025 sales above $86 billion across more than 1,750 stores.
How Bilt Went From Rent Rewards to Neighborhood OS
Bilt launched in 2021 as a rent rewards program and has since added mortgage rewards, local shopping, travel and home services, according to Digital Commerce 360. Bilt says it powers one in four U.S. rental homes and that members generated more than $12 billion in rewarded commerce at local businesses over the past 12 months. View from the Wing reports that Bilt raised $250 million at a $10.75 billion valuation in July 2025.
The merchant pitch is scale. Bilt cites a $6.6 trillion annual U.S. market for in-person retail and food services. Digital Commerce 360 lists Adyen, Verifone, Shift4 and Clover from Fiserv among the payment partners, with technology integrations phased in beginning in 2027. View from the Wing reports that Neighborhood OS costs merchants $495 a month and that a $1,500 onboarding fee is waived through December 31.
The counterpoint comes from the same View from the Wing piece. Its author, Gary Leff, is broadly favorable but points to Amex Plenti as the cautionary tale. Plenti launched in 2015 and shut down in 2018 despite large merchants. He also notes that the Hyatt and Marriott details are vague and that much of the data comes from Bilt itself.
Lowe’s brings a different set of numbers. It reported second quarter sales of $26 billion, up 8.3%, with comparable sales up 0.2%, according to Retail TouchPoints. Comparable transactions fell 2.1% while average ticket rose 2.3%. Online comparable sales rose 15.7%, the second straight quarter above 15%.
CEO Marvin Ellison said on the call, “But the caveat to all of that is that this consumer is being cautious, and it’s not just about fuel prices.” Retail TouchPoints also reports that Lowe’s declined to match competitors’ promotions funded by tariff refunds and accepted a short-term hit to July comparable sales. Homeowners are approving smaller projects rather than large remodels, the report says.
Home Depot is working the same lever from the other side. It expanded its Pro Xtra loyalty program on July 6 with partner offers from 7-Eleven, Jimmy John’s, Tecovas and Rosie’s AI Answering Service, according to Home Depot. I covered Home Depot’s push to make AI shopping agents identify themselves in this October 30 breakdown.
What Lowe’s and Bilt Mean for a High-Ticket Store Owner
My read is that the announcement adds a second reward to purchases Lowe’s shoppers already make, and it does not lower a single price. That makes the damage narrow but real, and it lands hardest where your products overlap with Lowe’s.
Here is hypothetical math, not reported data. Take a $3,500 outdoor kitchen island with a 12% net margin, which is $420 in profit. A Lowe’s shopper earns 3,500 Bilt Points. If you value a point at one cent, which is my assumption and not a figure from Bilt, that is $35 back. Matching it in cash would eat about 8% of your profit on the sale.
I would not match it. A reward that costs you 8% of profit buys a shopper who is comparing on price anyway. Supplier cost moves hit your margin harder than any points program does, and I covered one in Whirlpool’s 7% Q4 appliance price increase.
Think in scenarios. If you sell brands that Lowe’s also carries at the same MAP price, the reward becomes the tiebreaker, and you need a reason that beats it. My rule of thumb, and it is not data, is that if more than a quarter of your top 20 sellers also sit on Lowe’s.com, treat this as a real threat. If you sell specialty brands Lowe’s does not stock, the effect is close to zero.
The cautious consumer helps you here. Lowe’s own call says homeowners are choosing smaller projects, so the buyer spending $3,000 or more on one purchase wants certainty. Certainty is a person on the phone who knows the product, confirms the freight, and stays reachable after delivery. A points balance does not provide that. I wrote about turning more leads into clients with high-ticket follow-up, and the same habits apply when the lead is comparing you against Lowe’s.
Nothing in the announcement lets a Shopify store plug into Bilt. The named integrations are payment, point-of-sale and reservation vendors, and Bilt’s own framing is in-person spending. So the effect on you is indirect, through shopper behavior, not through a new channel you can use.
Loyalty is spreading across big retail, and it keeps showing up in places that touch your ads. I covered Google’s eligibility rules for Shopping loyalty perks earlier this fall. I also broke down what Target Circle 360 costs and whether it is worth it.
Financing is the other lever the big retailers pull. Wayfair expanded 0% APR for six months through Klarna, which means a shopper can already stretch a large purchase without paying you a cent more. Together, rewards and financing mean the shopper comparing you against a big box has two reasons to stay there, so you need a better answer than price.
Lowe’s also reports that its AI shopping agent, Mylow, has handled about 25 million customer questions, according to Retail TouchPoints, and that shoppers who use it convert at three times the rate of those who do not. That is a Lowe’s claim, and I treat it as one. The direction still matters. Shoppers are being walked toward a purchase by software that knows the catalog, the loyalty account and the local store, and a small store competes with that by being the human who answers the phone.
Keep the counterpoint in mind. Bilt’s AI and spending numbers are self-reported, Plenti is a real precedent for a coalition that faded, and nobody has shown that 1X moves a $3,000 purchase from one tab to another. One quarter of reporting will not settle it. The November 18 call is the first chance to hear Lowe’s talk about the partnership.
If you would rather have a team build and run the store that wins on service while you watch the big boxes fight over points, that is exactly what my turnkey done-for-you build is for.
Lowe’s just added a rewards layer. Work out your answer with other store owners and me inside the community, and start with the 7-day free trial, then it is paid. Join the Skool community →
Lowe’s Bilt Playbook for Your Store Before Nov. 18
Here are five moves I’d make before Lowe’s reports on November 18.
- Pull your top 20 sellers and search each one on Lowe’s.com. Log the price, delivery time and warranty, then use Semrush to see which Lowe’s category pages sit above you for your money keywords. My guide on turning Google Shopping clicks into sales for high-ticket products shows how to tighten the funnel once you know where you overlap.
- Put your phone number on every product page and answer it. A business phone and texting line from Quo keeps your personal number out of it, which matters when a $3,000 order starts with a conversation.
- Build a retention flow that rewards repeat buyers with something you control, such as early access, accessory bundles or free install guides. Klaviyo handles the sends. My post on the email flows every store should have running lists the ones to build first.
- Earn rewards on your own spend. Route ad spend and inventory through a business card from my credit card picks, and keep it all in a clean business account. Here is my full walkthrough for opening a Mercury account.
- Put the Lowe’s call on your calendar and listen for three things: any comment on Bilt, the Pro and online growth numbers, and how Lowe’s talks about promotions heading into the holidays. Then compare it against my Black Friday guide for small business owners. My Black Friday marketing plan covers the promo side.
If you need suppliers that protect your margin on the products you do carry, the paid supplier directory is where I’d start. If you want a second set of eyes on your pricing against Lowe’s, 1-on-1 coaching is the fastest route.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Lowe’s and Bilt announce?
On November 10, Lowe’s became Bilt’s exclusive home improvement partner. Bilt members who link a MyLowe’s Rewards account earn 1X Bilt Points on net eligible Lowe’s purchases, per Bilt’s release.
How many Bilt Points do members earn at Lowe’s?
One Bilt Point per dollar on net eligible purchases, after returns, credits and discounts. Neither Bilt nor Lowe’s defines which purchases are eligible or puts a dollar value on a point in the announcement.
When does the Lowe’s marketplace inside Bilt start?
Digital Commerce 360 reports matching with existing MyLowe’s accounts in December and a curated Lowe’s marketplace inside Bilt in early 2027. Broader Neighborhood OS integrations are phased in beginning in 2027.
Does this change anything for a Shopify store?
Not directly. Nothing in the announcement connects an online store to Bilt, and the named integrations are payment, point-of-sale and reservation vendors. The effect is indirect, through how Lowe’s shoppers compare prices and rewards.
What does Neighborhood OS cost merchants?
View from the Wing reports $495 a month for Neighborhood OS, $195 a month for an optional marketplace and $690 for both, with a $1,500 onboarding fee waived through December 31. Bilt did not list pricing in the Lowe’s announcement.
Should I offer my own points program to compete?
I would test service first. A cash match of a 1% reward can take a large bite out of a thin margin, and your edge is expertise and support. Start with the free high-ticket niches list if you want categories where shoppers value advice. The full high-ticket niches breakdown adds context.
Is demand in home categories strong enough to worry about this?
Lowe’s own comparable sales were up 0.2% last quarter, per Retail TouchPoints, so demand is flat and shoppers are choosy. I covered the latest category data in my October furniture sales post.
Big boxes keep adding loyalty layers. Want my team to build and run a high-ticket store that wins on service instead? See the turnkey done-for-you service →
Lowe’s reports on November 18, and I’ll be watching for any word on Bilt. Subscribe to the YouTube channel for daily breakdowns. More breaking news coming through the day.
Related Articles
If this was useful, these go deeper:
- Best High-Ticket Dropshipping Niches (Built for Scale, Not Trends)
- The Brutal Truth About High-Ticket Dropshipping Nobody Tells You
- Everything You Need to Launch a High Ticket Dropshipping Business in 2026
- Claude for Ecommerce: How to Build a Leaner High-Ticket Business With AI
- Chargeback Prevention for High-Ticket Stores: Stopping Disputes Before They Cost You
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and world traveler from Seattle, Washington, and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
He maintains homes in Seattle and Bali, spends most of the year overseas, and usually returns to Seattle for about a month each summer.
