The Home Depot Inc. plans to add later this year delivery services to support order fulfillment from the store level to the end customer, the Atlanta-based home improvement giant's head of supply chain said today.

The service will be rolled out by the end of the company's current fiscal year, which ends Jan. 30, 2015, according to Mark Holifield, executive vice president, supply chain and product development. Holifield spoke at a panel session at the annual Georgia Logistics Summit in Atlanta, which is co-located with the Modex trade show.

The move is part of Home Depot's strategy to expand its direct-to-customer online fulfillment operations, which are rapidly growing but, at more than $1 billion a year, represent a small fraction of the company's $80 billion in online sales.

Late last month, it opened a distribution center (DC) dedicated to direct-to-customer fulfillment. The 1.1-million-square-foot DC is located in Locust Grove, Ga., about 30 miles southeast of Atlanta. Home Depot shipped out its first order from the facility on Monday, according to Holifield.

Home Depot customers can buy products online and pick them up at the store, often out of existing inventory. The company can also ship an online order to a store for pick-up. The one missing piece is delivery from store to final destination.