Swedish furniture giant IKEA that has stores all around the globe has planned to come up with more shops in India’s economic capital of Mumbai next year. The iconic retailer has taken the decision to further expand in India, given the strong demand for furniture across the country.
In an official statement, Scandinavian retailer chain noted that 2020 is the year of sustainability and it aims at inspiring sustainability at home with its eco-friendly furniture and biodegradable products that will last long.
According to recent reports, IKEA will be opening a large-scale retail outlet and two small-scale shops by end of next year. IKEA, which is popular for its DIY projects and for finding art in simple furniture, has taken note of the rising demand of furniture in India as people are staying at home and naturally investing more time in home renovation and decoration. It expects that its DIY furniture projects will give something to the people to try their hands at.
The outlet and shops in Mumbai will not be the first venture of IKEA in the Indian furniture market, though, as it has an outlet in Hyderabad and online furniture services in Pune and Mumbai. Recently, it opened a furniture consultancy for avid buyers in Hyderabad.
The retail strategy of IKEA in India is different to what it has followed in other countries. In the past years of its presence in the Indian market, the furniture chain has decreased prices of many of its signature items. This has driven crowds of shoppers to the flagship store in Hyderabad with 2 million customers visiting it in the past year. Meanwhile, the online shopping portal of the furniture chain saw a traffic of 25 million Indian visitors who bought furniture from the online IKEA shop. Given that the chain has been restricted to few leading cities of India, the footfall and traffic that it has seen over the past year has been tremendous.
While most industries faced a setback and a mind boggling decline in customer engagement, IKEA managed to keep its steady flow of customers riding on a wave of work-from-home furniture and renovations that bored adults took up during the lockdown. As online shopping grew over the lockdown, the presence of IKEA’s e-commerce platform was a distinct advantage that drove revenue into its ledger. IKEA has decided to extend its lockdown success to a post-COVID-19 market by setting up new stores in Indian metro cities. Commenting on IKEA’s planned venture in Mumbai, a company official has expressed the company’s confidence about enhancing its brand presence in India. The new stores are likely to see high footfalls given IKEA’s international image.
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