Dear Reader,
IKEA opened its new store in Hyderabad, the first in India. There was much pomp and flair before the opening with IKEA promising a grand shopping and eating experience. There was much advertising and marketing of the store before the opening and that got the city rallied up for a grand opening.
News of the crowds at IKEA started spreading on the day of the opening with short videos of the queues, visiting crowds, and customers spending a lot of time just getting into the store. IKEA, as its brand stands for, did a great job of managing the crowd and ensured that every customer was delighted. However, I think they underestimated the size of the crowd on the first day and also on subsequent weekends.
Here are some online links to news articles on the same topic,
Clearly, IKEA did not anticipate the volume of people that will turn up to visit its store in Hyderabad. With more and more millenials shopping online it would have helped IKEA to launch an online presence and supplement their brick and mortar store. Below is an online article that touches upon the same subject.
Segmenting their customer base into those that 'do purchase online' and those that 'don't purchase online' would have allowed IKEA to attain higher sales while at the same time provide a great, slightly different, IKEA shopping experience to both segments. For example, customers that fall into the 'don't purchase online' segment would want a full blown brick and mortar shopping experience at their store. Whereas, customers that fall into the 'do purchase online' segment would probably be fine with browsing through the IKEA online catalogue, selecting the items they want to purchase, making a purchase and visiting the store to collect the items - that way, they get the IKEA shopping experience, save time and also avoid the crowds.
IKEA catalogs have always been a key part of the IKEA shopping experience. I as a kid, my family and I used to spend hour browsing through the catalog and ogling at the furniture designs and home furnishings. It was only when we were certain we wanted to purchase something we ended up visiting the store. Saved a ton of time and money!
In India, a majority of the customers would fall into the first segment i.e. those that 'don't purchase online' and I also think visiting a store like IKEA would be a first time experience for them. Just the sheer number of items on display and the ability to touch them and feel them itself is part of the IKEA experience. Most wouldn't even buy anything nor would they even have any intention of buying anything in the first place. For some it is a day long getaway to experience something new with a high brand value.
An online presence would definitely make IKEA a best seller in India. Hopefully they learn something from their store launch in Hyderabad and make better plans for their store launches in other cities.
Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think in the comments section.
Until next time.
Jyothin