ikea: strengthen the upgrading and transformation of physical stores in china, and focus more on investing in small stores and online contacts in the future
2024-09-29
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"china is a very important strategic market for ikea. it is also a market that is very suitable for new attempts and experiments. it can quickly learn the direction of change in the retail industry. in the future, ikea will strengthen investment in offline and online channels. , will continue to delve into the chinese market and make ikea’s products and services more accessible to consumers.”
recently, fan shalin, global vice president and deputy chief operating officer of ikea retail of ingka group, made the above statement in a group interview with a small group of media including the paper.
"price investment is an important global strategy for ikea. each market will choose a different category range to implement according to the actual situation." fan shalin pointed out that in recent years, ikea has continued to face challenges in the retail environment in the global market, and consumption behavior tends to be rational. however, in many markets ikea has received positive feedback from consumers through further investment in product prices. in some markets, product sales have shown double-digit growth. "ikea's low-price strategy is not a temporary promotional action, but a long-term commitment. ikea it is positioned as a 'public' product, with relatively high-priced products as well as low-priced or affordable products, with an emphasis on high cost performance and the ability to meet different consumer needs."
in terms of the chinese market, ikea china invested in more than 500 products at lower prices in fiscal year 2024, investing more than 400 million yuan in a series of investments including lower-priced products, promotional discounts, and cost-effective brand investment. the average price of low-priced products sales volume exceeded that of the same period last year. in the new fiscal year from september 2024 to august 2025, fan shalin said that "affordability" is still the focus of ikea, and this year it will focus on investing in the "complete sleep" series of products and ikea catering.
in addition to price investment, fan shalin told reporters that ikea also plans to strengthen investment in the existing 39 offline contact points in the chinese market and promote more efficient operations through transformation and upgrading. the cost savings will be used to invest in more and lower prices. price products, this will be ikea's long-term strategy.
swedish homewares retailer ikea was founded in 1943 by ingvar kamprad. since opening its first mainland store in shanghai in 1998, ingka group has opened 39 ikea customer contact points in mainland china (including 36 shopping malls, 2 experience stores, and 1 design ordering center) and 10 families gather together. it is understood that ikea adopts a "franchise" business model. ingka group is responsible for the retail business of ikea products in specific countries and regions. in addition, ingka group also has its own shopping malls and foreign investment businesses around the world.
among them, the shanghai huiju complex, newly opened on september 26, is ingka group’s largest single investment project in china. ikea china currently covers 28 cities.
"ikea has spent 80 years gradually exploring and establishing the best form of standard stores around the world. it only took 5 years to explore small stores. it requires continuous learning and experimentation to find the best solution." for the global part regarding the store closing behavior in various regions, fan shalin said that ikea is trying different store formats in various markets around the world. it is a learning process for ikea. it is inevitable that mistakes will be made during the period, but what is learned from each attempt can be used for the next time. new attempt.
regarding future global expansion plans, fan shalin said that in addition to opening new stores in some emerging markets, ikea will also add physical stores in mature markets. in addition to the chinese market, india is an emerging market for ikea, and ikea is also working with ingka shopping center to increase investment in the indian market.
fan shalin further pointed out,in the future, we will focus more on investing in small stores and online touchpoints., and integrate it with existing stores in the local market, while making full use of the distribution capabilities and automation capabilities of large stores to support small stores, and promote ikea to further transform and upgrade standard stores.
"we are also constantly improving ikea's digital experience, including investing in some digital tools and increasing digital investment in third-party platforms." fan shalin said that on the one hand, we are strengthening the capabilities of ikea's own digital channels, including websites and apps various functions on the internet, and uses artificial intelligence to support work on a global scale; on the other hand, ikea is also actively exploring cooperation with third parties and online channels in the chinese market.
in addition, fan shalin also mentioned that ikea is a market leader in sustainable services in the chinese market. the current proportion of electric delivery in the chinese market reaches 92%, and the proportion in other markets is 30%. mainly due to the joint investment of ikea itself and its suppliers, this proportion is expected to further increase in the future.
(intern li yijun also contributed to this article)
the paper reporter shao bingyan
(this article is from the paper. for more original information, please download the “the paper” app)
