ikea case study 2022

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Inside IKEA’s Digital Transformation

• Thomas Stackpole

A Q&A with Barbara Martin Coppola, IKEA Retail’s chief digital officer.

How does going digital change a legacy retail brand? According to Barbara Martin Coppola, CDO at IKEA Retail, it’s a challenge of remaining fundamentally the same company while doing almost everything differently. In this Q&A, Martin Coppola talks about how working in tech for 20 years prepared her for this challenge, why giving customers control over their data is good business, and how to stay focused on the core mission when you’re changing everything else.

What does it mean for one of the world’s most recognizable retail brands to go digital? For almost 80 years, IKEA has been in the very analogue business of selling its distinct brand of home goods to people. Three years ago, IKEA Retail (Ingka Group) hired Barbara Martin Coppola — a veteran of Google, Samsung, and Texas Instruments — to guide the company through a digital transformation and help it enter the next era of its history. HBR spoke with Martin Coppola about the particular challenge of transformation at a legacy company, how to sustain your culture when you’re changing almost everything, and how her 20 years in the tech industry prepared her for this task.

• Thomas Stackpole is a senior editor at Harvard Business Review.

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Table of Contents

Ikea target audience, ikea marketing channels, ikea marketing strategy, ikea marketing strategy 2024: a case study.

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Ikea serves the unique functional needs of each target audience, with special attention to 16-34-year-old adults. It has solutions for:

• Single people not living at home
• Newly married couples
• Families with the youngest child under six
• Older married couples with dependent children
• No children families
• Labor force
• Professionals 

Thus, it uses the following types of product positioning :

• Mono-segment positioning. It appeals to the needs and wants of a single customer segment that is cost-conscious and prefers value for money.
• Adaptive positioning. It believes in periodically repositioning products and services to adapt to changes in customer preferences. Its Swedish furniture chain considers the dynamic nature of customer preferences. For instance, its latest products reflect increasing minimalism on the global scale. 

Ikea utilizes the power of the following marketing channels: 

• Mobile Application
• WebEngage: Email, SMS, and Whatsapp Marketing
• Social Media
• Telecalling
• Commercials

The Ikea marketing strategy contributes majorly to its success because it's original, imaginative, and distinctive while maintaining a transparent value proposition.

A Creative, Consistent Brand Theme

From the Swedish national colors on its buildings to rich meatballs in its store cafeterias, Ikea's marketing strategy reflects its cultural heritage proudly. It infuses all elements of their identity with a sense of self-assuredness that maintains their identity in the market of stiff competition. 

Emphasizing Affordability and Sustainability 

Understanding that a simple tiered strategy won't encourage repeat business, Ikea extends customization, flexibility, and mix-and-match furniture modules. It effectively combines the elements of affordability and sustainability in its marketing strategy to ensure success.

While the furniture options don't pledge a lifelong guarantee, the products are built to last. Even its reusable shopping bags reflect its commitment to sustainability.

Sponsorship and Influencers 

IKEA-sponsored comedic series Easy to Assemble. Its innovative content marketing was way different from a furniture product demo. Incorporating sponsored digital marketing campaigns and social media influencers have boosted the Ikea marketing strategy. 

Ikea’s Easy to Assemble Series

Exceptional In-store Experience

Ikea brilliantly displays products employing the best lighting systems to generate more sales. It strategically arranges best-matched items in mock rooms to encourage impulse purchases and inspire decor. The company also extends excellent customer service to provide a memorable experience and incite customers to come back for more.

Ikea’s Store Decor for Inspiration

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Website and Mobile Application Marketing

Ikea ensures an optimal mobile website's speed, button displays and gesture controls on its website and mobile app to retain and attract individuals to the site. It carefully invests in its UI/UX , enquiry-based chatbot, and regular updates on new offers, discounts, and promotions. 

One of the most successful marketing moves includes downloading its 3D modeling app to envision a dream home. It's one of its most successful marketing moves that allows IKEA to upsell its low-demand items by creating a desire in its customers to revamp the room.

Ikea’s Website With Engaging Content

Ikea's SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Ikea's marketing strategy aims at enhancing the site's visibility for relevant searches to attract the attention of new and existing customers. It includes the right product-specific keywords and Google advertisements to further augment its organic ranking .  

Ikea Ranking for Bookcases on Google’s First Page

Ikea's SMM (Social Media Marketing)

Ikea's handles are very active on digital marketing platforms like Facebook, Instagram , Twitter, and Youtube . Their digital presence is impressive, with more than 30 Million likes on Facebook, 1 Million followers on Instagram, 5.3k followers on Twitter, and 41.2k subscribers on YouTube.

Ikea’s Instagram Profile

Its Instagram bio links to its website. The website also has links to its various social media posts. Its 'view shop' and 'call' options for product catalog and direct assistance, respectively, are a testament to a well-crafted Ikea marketing strategy.   

Ikea’s Youtube Advertisements 

IKEA also conducts free online workshops that lure lots of enthusiastic customers, resulting in gaining leads.

Ikea’s Online Workshop Ad

Content Marketing

Ikea relies on its content marketing strategy to create a distinguished presence amongst furniture brands. Its commercials, print ads, social media, and website stands out with attention-grabbing content. It combines innovation and humor to present the brand's core values and inspire people. 

Ikea’s Captivating Commercial 

Ikea Marketing Strategy bears testimony to a well-thought and structured marketing venture. Sign-up for our Digital Marketing Specialist and learn more about marketing case studies published by Harvard Business. You will be taught by experts from facebook and Purdue University. Sign-up for the course TODAY!

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Exploring digitalisation at IKEA

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management

ISSN : 0959-0552

Article publication date: 15 March 2022

Issue publication date: 19 December 2022

The paper aims to clarify how an incumbent retail organisation explores digitalisation for its existing business.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws from an in-depth case study of home-furnishing retail giant, IKEA conducted with semi-structured interviews, participant observations and document analyses.

In the exploration phase of digitalisation, three major activities – interpreting, interrelating and integrating – illuminate how the exploration process can be organised in practice.

Originality/value

Although digitalisation ranks amongst the most significant ongoing transformations in retail businesses, research on how incumbent retail organisations have engaged in exploring digitalisation in practice has remained scarce. The paper contributes insights into digitalisation processes in retail businesses that may also apply to other trends affecting the retail industry.

• Digitalisation
• Exploration

Hagberg, J. and Jonsson, A. (2022), "Exploring digitalisation at IKEA", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management , Vol. 50 No. 13, pp. 59-76. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-12-2020-0510

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Johan Hagberg and Anna Jonsson

Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

1. Introduction

Digitalisation , defined as the “integration of digital technologies into everyday life by the digitization of everything that can be digitized” ( Hagberg et al. , 2016 , p. 696), ranks amongst the most significant ongoing transformations in business, one that has introduced new ways of doing business whilst challenging established ones ( Leeflang et al. , 2014 ). As such, digitalisation has been characterised as a disruptive change that tests industries, their accepted logics and even individual businesses (e.g. Verhoef et al. , 2015 ; Hänninen et al. , 2018 ).

In literature addressing retail, digitalisation has received increased attention from both consumers' and retailers' perspectives ( Frasquet et al. , 2021 ), including in terms of omni-channel strategies ( Verhoef et al. , 2015 ), business models ( Jocevski et al. , 2019 ), multi-sided platforms ( Hänninen et al. , 2019 ) and the reconfiguration of retail stores ( Hagberg et al. , 2017 ). Most recently, according to Hänninen et al. (2021) , such research has integrated far more discussion and theorising about digitalisation across the value chain. However, the organisational processes that catalyse the incorporation of digital technologies in retail businesses – in March's (1991) and Winter and Szulanski's (2001) terms, the exploration phase – have received less attention. Therefore, this paper focusses on that very phase – the early stage of digitalisation – to contribute insights into digitalisation in retail ( Hänninen et al. , 2021 ) whilst answering the call for research on “how firms adapt their business models in response to external threats and opportunities” ( Saebi et al. , 2017 , p. 567).

The paper aims to clarify how an incumbent retail organisation explores digitalisation for its existing business, even as potential disruptions, their meanings and their consequences remain uncertain. To that purpose, the paper builds upon an in-depth case study on IKEA, an established firm in today's dynamic retail sector, an environment in which digitalisation especially urges business actors to rethink their ways of doing business and attracting customers ( Hänninen et al. , 2018 ; Blom, 2019 ; Jocevski et al. , 2019 ). It draws upon first-hand experiences with, and insights into, how IKEA has explored digitalisation, even when the concept was relatively elusive and how it would affect IKEA's business. In describing IKEA's exploration phase and what digitalisation has meant for its business, the paper delineates three major activities of that exploratory process: (1) interpreting what digitalisation means, (2) interrelating digitalisation and the existing business and (3) integrating new ideas and solutions in light of digitalisation.

In what follows, we review literature on digitalisation in retail and research focussing on that process's exploration phase and development in businesses. Next, we describe the methodological considerations made for our case study on IKEA. After that, we present our findings in terms of three major activities that guide the exploration phase. We conclude the paper by discussing our findings in relation to the literature and addressing our research's limitations.

2. Literature review: exploring digitalisation in retail

Having significantly impacted retail in recent years, digitalisation has become an important topic in research on the industry ( Hänninen et al. , 2021 ), especially regarding specific applications of digital technology – for example, the use of smartphones in physical retail settings ( Fuentes et al. , 2017 ; Grewal et al. , 2018 ), augmented reality ( Scholz and Duffy, 2018 ; Caboni and Hagberg, 2019 ) and digital signage ( Dennis et al. , 2012 ; Jäger and Weber, 2020 ). Studies on specific technologies have been accompanied by broader frameworks for integrating various digital technologies into retail, not only by turns based upon their usage and retailers' objectives ( Wolpert and Roth, 2020 ), their social presence and consumers' convenience ( Grewal et al. , 2020 ) and their use in relation to shopping behaviour at various stages of the customer's journey ( Rosengren et al. , 2018 ; Blom, 2019 ; Roggeveen and Sethuraman, 2020 ), but also by general frameworks of what digitalisation implies for retail business overall ( Hagberg et al. , 2016 ). In such studies, digitalisation in retail has received sustained attention regarding several aspects of consumer behaviour ( Hure et al. , 2017 ; Pantano and Gandini, 2018 ), the retailer–consumer interface ( Hagberg et al. , 2016 ; Roggeveen and Sethuraman, 2020 ) and retailers' ways of doing business ( Verhoef et al. , 2015 ; Hänninen et al. , 2018 ). The processes in which incumbent retailers develop their businesses in light of digitalisation, however, have received far less attention.

Because digitalisation, understood as the integration of digital technologies, is arguably not a binary shift from one stage to another but an ongoing process without a clear beginning or end ( Hagberg et al. , 2016 ), its exploration in retail warrants a more processual perspective, particularly regarding its influence on how retail organisations alter their businesses (cf. Langley, 1999 ). Along with frameworks addressing how retail businesses can integrate digitalisation in various ways, the actual processes that may result in digital integration need to be explored and modelled. That need directs our attention to the exploratory processes through which retail businesses may approach digitalisation and, more specifically, to how digitalisation consequently influences established business models. Especially for the latter reason, we gave priority to incumbent retailers, whose business models and established ways of conducting business often confront such considerations.

Despite extensive research on what constitutes a business model, understandings differ about how to define, explore and leverage one. In fact, Teece (2018 , p. 41) has estimated that there are probably as many definitions of business model as there are models themselves. According to Ritter and Lettl (2018) , a business model, simply put, is a company's “way of doing business”. In this paper, considering how business models have been discussed in retail settings ( Sorescu et al. , 2011 , p. 4), we broadly understand a company's business model as representing “the firm's distinctive logic for value creation and appropriation”.

Although various external events may necessitate changes to ways of developing and operating businesses, digitalisation itself is not an event but an emergent, comprehensive and uncertain phenomenon. Indeed, digitalisation can span several external and internal aspects of businesses, as well as pose myriad implications for individual business models. To date, though scholars interested in digitalisation have examined different approaches to innovating business models, from making gradual, evolutionary adjustments to radically altering them ( Berends et al. , 2016 ; Inigo et al. , 2017 ; Snihur and Wiklund, 2019 ), how the exploration phase of digitalisation is understood and organised merits further investigation.

Following March's (1991 , p. 71) definition, exploration refers to searching for, innovating and experimenting with something novel. The concept as used by March (1991) is often considered in relation to exploitation, which refers to refinement, efficiency and implementation of “old” routines or certainties in an organisation. As noted by He and Wong (2004 , p. 481), researchers in strategic management, organisation theory and managerial economics have applied the two concepts in order to understand how innovations occur and how an organisation learn and develop dynamic capabilities to meet change. Previous studies either focus on the trade-off between exploration and exploitation or the balancing act between the two as discussed within literature focussing on ambidexterity and means for developing dynamic capabilities (e.g. Benner and Tushman, 2003 ; He and Wong, 2004 ; Vahlne and Jonsson, 2017 ). The two concepts have also been applied in processual research describing the evolution and development of an organisation. Winter and Szulanski (2001) use the two concepts when outlining their theory of replication as strategy and suggest a two-phase model where the organisation first enters the exploration phase “in which the business model is created or refined” (p. 731) and then move on to the exploitation phase. The argument that exploration and exploitation can be understood in terms of different phases of a process has been adopted also by researchers focussing on, for instance, retailers' internationalisation process ( Jonsson and Foss, 2011 ), the transition into retail omni-channel strategies ( Picot-Coupey et al. , 2016 ) and reverse knowledge flows within franchise organisations ( Friesl and Larty, 2018 ). Still, how the exploration phase is organised and how it can be understood remains to be further investigated. To the best of our knowledge, there is a dearth of research focussing specifically on the exploration phase and how it develops in practice. Whilst existing studies do explore the exploration phase, it is also discussed in relation to the exploitation phase with focus on the outcomes rather than the processual aspects of the phase as such. For this paper, we zoom in on and examine the exploration phase and how it can be understood in the context of retail digitalisation. In particular, when emergent trends such as digitalisation, a change process, challenge established business models, more comprehensively re-engaging the exploration phase can become essential.

3. Methodology

Investigating a complex phenomenon such as digitalisation, and given our aim, calls for a qualitative in-depth case study ( Eisenhardt, 1989 ). According to Dyer and Wilkins (1991 , pp. 615–617), case studies aim to “provide a rich description of the social scene”, “describe the context in which events occur” and thus offer opportunities for other researchers to see “phenomena in their own experience and research”. In that sense, rich, explorative case studies provide avenues for future research or, as more broadly conceived by Doz (2011 , p. 588), “offer the opportunity to help move the field forward and assist in providing its own theoretical grounding”.

Our in-depth case study focussed on IKEA, a global home-furnishing retail company, and its work with developing an understanding of digitalisation. IKEA is a particularly interesting case that has attracted practitioners seeking a benchmark in a hitherto successful business model (e.g. Jonsson and Elg, 2006 ; Edvardsson and Enquist, 2011 ; Burt et al. , 2016 ). IKEA has frequently been used as an empirical example in the business models literature (e.g. Hedman and Kalling, 2003 ; Sorescu et al. , 2011 ) and subject to in-depth case studies of the development of specific aspects related to the IKEA business model over time (see e.g. Salzer, 1994 ; Jonsson, 2007 ; Tarnovskaya et al. , 2008 ; Edvardsson and Enquist, 2011 ; Hellström and Nilsson, 2011 ; Burt et al. , 2016 , 2021 ). In addition, there are several studies of various aspects related to digitalisation, including store format development ( Hultman et al. , 2017 ) and comparison of IKEA's digital catalogue and website ( Garnier and Poncin, 2019 ). IKEA has also served as an in-depth case for studies of exploration in relation to exploitation and replication ( Jonsson and Foss, 2011 ; Vahlne and Jonsson, 2017 ). The present study adds to this literature through an in-depth case study of IKEA's digitalisation process in an early explorative phase.

In the ten months from September 2014 to June 2015, we observed IKEA's work on exploring digitalisation and the trend's potential impacts on various parts of the organisation's business model and participated in a project undertaken in support of such exploration. In that form of action research ( Patton, 1980 ), engaging in IKEA's internal exploratory work as researchers allowed us to understand digitalisation's implications by discussing them with representatives at IKEA, which, at the time, considered knowledge of those implications to be important because they, along with digitalisation itself, remained unknown. Using such methods enabled us to contrast findings from interviews with findings from observations and synthesise the results in light of theory ( Ghauri and Grönhaug, 2002 ). In particular, our case study revolved around two ongoing projects and the processes of working within them: IKEA's “E-Commerce Programme”, later named the “Multichannel Transformation Programme”, and a project designed as a pre-study addressing the future role of IKEA's physical stores and the challenges and opportunities that they face amid digitalisation.

We collected data with three overlapping methods: in-depth semi-structured interviews, participant observations and document analyses (for an overview, see Table 1 ). As for the first, we conducted 21 interviews with senior executives with different functions in different departments at IKEA as detailed in Table 1 . Using purposeful sampling, we interviewed IKEA managers and employees working with and/or preparing for the organisation's digitalisation about their experiences with and thoughts on the concept of digitalisation and its implications. The interviews combined retrospective questions about IKEA's business model with questions about current situations experienced by the interviewees and prospective enquiries about IKEA's future in relation to digitalisation. All interviews began with open-ended questions about digitalisation in general and digitalisation at IKEA in particular. As the interviews progressed, questions became more structured and delved into the future role of IKEA stores, the specific challenges that IKEA faces, whether they will affect the IKEA concept and if so, then how. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and translated into English in those cases the interviews were made in Swedish.

Meanwhile, participant observations involved three meetings – before, during and after data collection, respectively – with the project manager of the pre-study to discuss the overall project. Those meetings lasted 11 h and 36 min in all. We also engaged in both in-store observations and meetings, lasting 10 h in total, whilst visiting an IKEA store in the Altona borough of Hamburg, Germany that operates as a test store for new concepts (e.g. urban proximity, technical solutions and delivery solutions). The local managers who accompanied us during our in-store observations also met with us twice: once with five other store managers and once with five employees from different departments. We conducted both meetings as group interviews guided by the same questionnaire used in the individual interviews. During all observations, we took field notes for data about the employees' perspectives and what digitalisation meant in practice. That information was valuable when conducting interviews with IKEA managers responsible for strategic decision-making and for translating digitalisation into IKEA's business model. Last, we also collected documents and visual communication, both public and internal, for analysis. The internal documents contained information about the pre-study, the “E-Commerce Programme”, the “Multichannel Transformation Programme” and the movie “ Shop with Laura ” (see Table 1 ) and public documents included information about the IKEA history, vision and business idea statements. Documents were collected on the basis of their mentioning during the interviews or participant observation sessions. These constituted sources of detailed information preserved from the time in which they were written and less dependent on the informants' memories. Throughout data collection, we facilitated informants' validation of the data on several occasions (cf. Silverman, 2006 ), which afforded us the opportunity to discuss our observations and findings with the participants. Apart from our participant observations, we also hosted two internal workshops with the project manager of the pre-study to discuss our findings.

To analyse the data, we used systematic combining ( Dubois and Gadde, 2002 ) – i.e. alternated focus between our empirical material and theory – whilst developing our case study and the emerging framework. For integrity's sake, we triangulated the three major sources of data – participant observations, interviews and document analysis ( Silverman, 2006 ) – during all four steps of data analysis. First, we coded the transcripts with reference to keywords and phrases related to digitalisation and its consequences for the retail industry in general and IKEA in particular. In that step, we adopted an emic perspective that prioritised the perceptions and understandings of the informants ( McCracken, 1988 ). Second, following Langley's (1999) suggestion, we took a narrative approach to comprehending the process-related data, namely by drafting a general description of the process with illustrative quotations from material collected in the field ( Berends et al. , 2016 ). Third, whilst working abductively between the empirical material and our emerging analytical framework, we used theoretical coding ( Charmaz, 2014 ) to sort, integrate and organise the material to represent a three-phase process. In so doing, we gradually shifted to an etic perspective – i.e. from the informants' perspective to our own perspectives as observers of the empirical material. Fourth and finally, we reorganised the material and wrote a case narrative structured according to the three abovementioned activities as presented next.

4. Exploring digitalising: the IKEA way

In the past 70 years, IKEA has grown from a small, family owned company in Sweden into the world's largest retailer of home furnishings. Arguably, IKEA's rapid international expansion resulted from the three-phase development of a formula that has been replicated in all markets where IKEA has entered an expanded, where the first phase commenced by exploring IKEA's business idea and opening test stores in markets outside Sweden ( Jonsson and Foss, 2011 ).

IKEA's business idea builds upon two concepts – the idea concept and the concept in practice – that together define what, in theoretical terms, could be understood as IKEA's business model. Whereas the idea concept refers to IKEA's vision “to create a better everyday life for the many people”, its philosophy of co-creation (i.e. “We do our part, and you do yours”) and the central role of IKEA stores, the concept in practice refers to IKEA's practices of examining specific sets of variables whilst adjusting to local markets ( Jonsson and Foss, 2011 , p. 1,090). The two concepts are mutually dependent; if the concept in practice does not change, then the practices of the idea concept will eventually become irrelevant and not reach “the many people”.

In 2014, drawing from insights during its internationalisation, IKEA realised that digitalisation could be both a challenge and an opportunity amid its recently declining expansion. For decades, IKEA had experienced outstanding success in replicating its business model: an average yearly increase in sales of approximately 8–10%, the constant meeting of new sales targets and a steady rate of expansion, with 12–14 store openings per year. In 2013, however, IKEA's steady growth declined in some markets, as the rapid worldwide growth of e-commerce in retailing continued to challenge physical stores and change the competition. In response, the company decided to decelerate its international expansion in favour of exploring what digitalisation could mean for their established business model. At IKEA, it was, therefore, considered increasingly important to return to a state of exploration in which key variables describing the idea concept and the established concept in practice would be re-evaluated. Moreover, as increasingly more young employees at IKEA sought new, 21st-century ways of reaching “the many people” – i.e. current and potential customers – both IKEA's employees and customers began looking for digital solutions and new ways of working.

In the following sections, we recount how IKEA engaged in exploring digitalisation in the IKEA way and how it (re)imagined reaching “the many people” in the shifting retail landscape. The story begins when the intersection of digitalisation and IKEA's business model was becoming increasingly apparent but not yet regarded as a phenomenon that would require radical changes, and it ends six months later, when the exploration phase resulted in an understanding and approach that we term the re(in)innovation of IKEA's business idea. In particular, we discuss how IKEA interpreted, interrelated and integrated digitalisation with its established ways of doing business. Although we have structured our discussion in three subsections, each addressing one of those three activities, the activities should not be considered as occurring along a linear path but instead as three aspects of the exploration phase.

For an overview of the activities and related steps, please see Table 2 .

4.1 Interpreting digitalisation

In 2014, aware that IKEA retailers in the USA were witnessing a cannibalising effect on their physical stores because of e-commerce, IKEA took its first steps towards exploring digitalisation. IKEA realised that its E-Commerce Programme launched only a year prior, could not simply be rolled out as initially planned but needed to be informed by a discussion about what e-commerce and digitalisation would mean for sales in IKEA's physical stores. Although digitalisation was becoming a widely discussed concept in retail at the time, it had remained undefined, and it was unclear how, or even whether, it was distinct from e-commerce. Recognising that possibility, IKEA's global expansion manager initiated several internal projects to explore what digitalisation meant and how it might relate to IKEA's business idea.

E-commerce is how we do business electronically, so it's about selling: selling online. But digitalisation is much bigger than that […] It's about the whole company, because it involves, for example, online learning. I think that e-commerce is not just about selling; it's about fulfilment, the buying process. (Development Manager, E-Commerce Programme)

Digitalisation is broader than e-commerce. It's also more about how we approach customers: how we communicate and how we ensure that all of our customers have the same knowledge, whether they're buying things in the store or online. Digitalisation is something that happens in the store. It's how we provide all of the information to our customers: where the products come from, what they do and how you can use them. (Supply Manager, IKEA Supply AG, Logistics)

As that quotation suggests, despite references to what digitalisation might mean and what it truly is, its signification remained vague. Even so, it appears that digitalisation might have generally been understood as offering digital information to customers. Making sense of digitalisation thus involved distinguishing digitalisation from e-commerce to not only explain how the concepts differed but also make digitalisation manageable for and relevant to customers.

So, all of a sudden, the amount of information that we have about people and how they live, move, interact etc. is phenomenal. And it's in combination. It's not urbanisation only; it's urbanisation plus digitalisation that gives us the opportunities. It's an example of how combined trends can become very powerful. (Digital Business Manager, Inter IKEA Systems B.V.)

It is exponential because every new invention in the digital space is built on previous ones. So, it's a combined effect that creates exponential speed. So, ignoring it, as Kodak or Nokia did, will be very dangerous. On the contrary, it can be very powerful, like for Apple, Google, Facebook, etc.

For me, digitalisation is a moving target. Its content is changing all of the time. To some extent, we use a lot of digital technology already—it's just that it’s outdated, right—so we're changing how we digitalise instead of digitalising something that is not digital. (Global Retail Logistics Manager, Retail Logistics IKEA of Sweden)

Gradually, it became clear that digitalisation not only needed to be understood in the sense of selling goods online but would have broader implications for the company. As a case in point, when observing customers who had already developed new shopping behaviours – using mobile phones to search for products from both outside and inside stores, for example – IKEA realised that new mobile solutions had to be integrated with traditional retail logic. As a result, IKEA unveiled the “Future Role of the IKEA Store in a Multichannel Environment” project to emphasise the need to understand and combine related trends. The project was initiated to jumpstart a shift towards what IKEA called a “seamless customer journey”. Consisting of five sub-projects, the project prompted the redefinition of the E-Commerce Programme and later evolved into the Multichannel Transformation Programme.

Digitalisation means nothing, I would say. Because what we want is to secure a solution for when you, the customer, move between the store and the web. It might be a digital solution, but it can also be a physical solution, or something else. The only thing that's important is to solve some sort of need and to learn more about those needs. (Group Retail Manager, Global Retail Services IKEA Group)

The expansion manager also emphasised that instead of simply focussing on defining digitalisation, routines and skills need to be developed for facilitating “disruptive developments” and finding new solutions and ways of testing new ideas. Understanding how various activities were organised and integrated was also considered to be pivotal. The idea addressed in many interviews – namely, that digitalisation both enables and requires the integration of knowledge – was explained as enhancing the focus on customers and their experiences. That perspective marked a shift into the phase in which IKEA began actively exploring what digitalisation meant to its ways of doing business by revisiting the idea concept and the concept in practice.

Altogether, the first activity of the exploration phase, interpreting, refers to ways of understanding and making sense of digitalisation and the changes that it was considered to imply. The process can be described as encompassing three steps: differentiating (i.e. distinguishing and delimiting digitalisation from other concepts), combining (i.e. making connections between digitalisation and other trends and concepts) and concretising (i.e. defining digitalisation and making it actionable). Building upon lessons from that work, IKEA transitioned into the second activity of exploration where it began relating digitalisation more explicitly to IKEA way of doing business.

4.2 Interrelating digitalisation with established business ideas

Whilst interpreting digitalisation, informants increasingly reflected on what it would mean for IKEA's established business ideas. After all, the replication formula was being challenged by not only digitalisation but also urbanisation. Mounting criticism about globalisation and calls for de-growth were also seen as challenging the existing understanding of doing business – i.e. by selling furniture “to the many people” – and concerns for sustainability were identified as needing to be incorporated into understandings of digitalisation.

To ensure that all IKEA employees shared the same interpretation of digitalisation and how it relates to IKEA's established business model, it was considered to be necessary to visualise the future. To convince internal sceptics, it was considered to be especially important to also visualise how digitalisation could generate opportunities for sales and attract a broader customer base and thereby more fully reach “the many people”. It additionally required ideas about urbanisation, sustainability and ways of offering not only furniture but also services, both in terms of continuity and making it easier to shop. Some proposals even conceived collaborating with second-hand retailers or establishing an organisation that would create opportunities to sell recycled and/or used furniture.

We wanted to have a completely different kind of interaction with our customers: a completely different type of conversation, a completely different type of engagement. So, I made a video that I think is very entertaining. […] She [Laura, the protagonist] wants to decorate her children's room, and the videos show her journey until she's satisfied. (Web and Digital Manager, Web and Digital Retail Services)

To develop a “seamless” experience for customers, it was considered to be crucial to introduce multiple perspectives, which seemed to require visualising the journey of customers in order to ensure focus on their experiences. To that end, it was expressed that all perspectives in IKEA's value chain had to be considered, and a consensus was emerging that different perspectives needed to be integrated in order to realise digitalisation. It was also clear that integrating knowledge from various functions in order to avoid a silo mentality would require more effort.

Our model has been built on direct deliveries to our stores, where you [the customer] do your part, we do our part, and then we save money. We need to think about a completely different kind of integration in how we develop and how we lead the overall development. To make that happen, we're now investing billions in new infrastructure—large investments in IT—but that's not what will take us into the future . (Group Retail Manager, Global Retail Services IKEA Group)

It was necessary to look inwards and to involve different views and perspectives, both across different parts of the company and from the outside. The same informant underscored the importance of accessing different perspectives to also “integrate the outside perspective into our structure, so that we do not get too isolated and, in that way, also cultivate our own skills”. The involvement of different functions and external partners prompted discussions about what digitalisation meant in relation to the established retail logic of “You do your part, we do our part (and together we save money)”. As it became clear that digitalisation would inevitably affect IKEA's business model, the question of how that process would unfold increasingly became the topic of discussion.

In sum, the second activity of the exploration phase, interrelating, refers to assessing digitalisation in relation to established ways of doing business in three steps: visualising (i.e. what the future might look like), mapping (i.e. what functions, areas and parts of the business model will be involved) and evaluating (i.e. how digitalisation will affect the business model and current ways of doing business). Based upon insights from that work, IKEA advanced to putting lessons learnt into practice and began the third activity: integrating new knowledge with existing knowledge.

4.3 Integrating digitalisation into a business model

From the internal projects related to efforts of interpreting digitalisation and interrelating it to other trends, IKEA's managers concluded that its established business model needed an update and that the antidote, digitalisation, also offered an opportunity to fully realise the business idea of offering products and services to “the many people”. To that end, testing new ideas, learning from them and making any necessary adjustments were considered to be important tasks. Thus, to be able to integrate digitalisation with the business model, it was necessary to experiment with numerous ideas and solutions as was done at numerous IKEA locations. For example, at IKEA in Altona, new ideas and concepts were tested to see whether they could satisfy a more digital, urban segment of customers. The Altona store was not only constructed differently from the standard global store format, in terms of size and layout, but also to accommodate for trends in urbanisation. It had also been adapted to test new concepts in practice, including new logistics and distribution solutions, and the normal pathway through the IKEA store had been partly removed to attract customers passing by outside. In the United Kingdom, by comparison, as a result of exploring digitalisation and testing new digital solutions, IKEA had launched its first app.

Experiences from testing new ideas and solutions were transferred back to the IKEA Group and Inter IKEA Systems. Thus, an important step was reviewing and learning from those experiences followed by transferring them internally within the organisation. In relation to the Altona store, both IKEA's management team in Germany and the IKEA Group's management team followed the experiences closely. Beyond that, many employees from IKEA worldwide visited the UK and/or Altona stores simply out of curiosity.

That's the essence of IKEA. If you remove everything, then the core is what's left, and that's IKEA… [We] need to develop our concept, take it further and say, “This is how I see IKEA today”. We have to be on track and dare to test and create other formats… So, IKEA has to change; otherwise, it's the beginning of the end. (Group Retail Manager, Global Retail Services IKEA Group)

The concept manager also reflected on how those changes would affect the idea concept and the concept in practice, as well as the latter should not come at the former's expense: “I mean the concept, if we go back to it, and the vision… part of the recipe for success has been just doing things together, engaging people” (IKEA Concept Manager, Inter IKEA Systems B.V.). Thus, integrating digitalisation into IKEA's business also implied reconnecting with IKEA's roots and reflecting on the idea concept as “the core of the core”. After all, although IKEA was changing at the time and continues to change, it remains the same IKEA. In that sense, revising the business model appeared to be quite natural, for though it had always changed in one sense, in another sense it had also always remained intact. The conclusion was that to be able to sustain the idea concept, “the core of the core”, the concept in practice needed to change, which would imply searching for new formats and new solutions to further leverage IKEA's business. IKEA's managers realised that although the basic needs were the same, people had changed and were continuing to change, and the experiences of customers demanded far more focus. For those reasons, a new position, global customer experience manager, was created. The shift implied a return to the core of IKEA's concept and vision – “to provide products and services that are both cost-efficient and innovative” – and that digitalisation had forced IKEA to rethink its processes of achieving those ends. As another informant argued, the entire process of re-evaluating the way of doing business – i.e. the IKEA way – had alerted managers and employees not only to IKEA's strong vision and business model, but also its need to seize the opportunity to fully realise that vision and reach “the many people” both online and offline.

All of the work to prepare IKEA for the digital shift had prompted a return to the company's roots and the questioning of proven solutions, which is indeed one of IKEA's ten values, perhaps best be described as shifting from interpreting digitalisation and interrelating with IKEA's business model into integrating and turning it into practice. That integrative phase also precipitated how IKEA re(in)novated its business model. IKEA's approach of digitalisation could thus be understood as returning to the company's original idea; the understanding of the idea concept will never change, but the concept in practice has to be rethought and new ideas and practices tested and evaluated in order to continue to reach “the many people”. To that end, practising and testing new solutions were crucial strategies for IKEA, not to mention integral to the IKEA concept and its organisational culture.

In all, the third activity of the exploration phase, integrating, refers to the actual digitalisation of the business idea by steps of practising (i.e. developing and trying different solutions to test and learn from them), reviewing (i.e. sharing knowledge within the organisation to learn from practice) and revising (i.e. connecting and evaluating changes to the established business model in order to provide continuity).

5. Conclusion

This paper has sought to illuminate how an incumbent retail organisation approached digitalisation for its existing business at an early, exploratory phase when possible disruptions, their meanings and their consequences remained uncertain. To that aim, we have provided an account based upon our in-depth case study of IKEA and how the company explored digitalisation at an early stage. We have delineated the exploration phase as consisting of three chief activities – interpreting, interrelating and integrating – each of which we have detailed by identifying certain steps therein. Together, and with reference to IKEA's case, those aspects allow an understanding of the exploration phase.

Compared with previous studies on exploration and exploitation (e.g. March 1991 ; Winter and Szulanski, 2001 ) and specifically in the context of retailing ( Jonsson and Foss, 2011 ; Picot-Coupey et al. , 2016 ; Friesl and Larty, 2018 ), our paper contributes with insights on how the exploration phase is understood and organised in practice. The study further contributes to previous literature of IKEA's business model ( Hedman and Kalling, 2003 ; Sorescu et al. , 2011 ) and specific aspects of the IKEA business model (see e.g. Edvardsson and Enquist, 2011 ; Burt et al. , 2016 , 2021 ) by outlining the exploration phase in further detail. Although the activities of the exploration phase – interpreting, interrelating and integrating – stem from a specific case, we believe, following the potential of qualitative in-depth case studies ( Dyer and Wilkins, 1991 ; Doz, 2011 ), that they may provide value for analysing what digitalisation or any other current or future trend means to retail businesses apart from IKEA.

Because our study was performed at a relatively early phase of adapting the business model at IKEA, some of the outcomes of that process were beyond our study's time frame. However, conducting the study during the process afforded the advantage of revealing ambiguities, scepticism and reservations amongst employees and managers, all of which are important for understanding how retail businesses can be transformed in practice due to digitalisation. In hindsight, some of those uncertainties may be expected to fade or fall into oblivion once changes appear as a continuation of their antecedents and become institutionalised in the ordinary course of business, whether such a development occurs and, if so, then how it remains to be investigated. In any case, a key contribution of our study is the understanding of how an organisation such as IKEA, a global retail giant, organises its efforts to explore digitalisation in relation to its existing business. Still, as this study was conducted in a relatively early phase of the digital transformation, we believe that the findings may differ from later implementations when digitalisation has increasingly become a norm rather than an exception and retailers having increased abilities to learn from their and other's previous experiences. An important opportunity for further research would be to study more recent cases of exploration phases in relation to digitalisation as well as comparing incumbents and entrants as well as larger and smaller organisations.

Using a case study to develop an understanding of digitalisation in retail has advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it affords a more profound understanding of how retail businesses are transformed due to digitalisation in practice, as well as detailed insights into the practical work within the company (cf. Saebi et al. , 2017 ). On the other, however, it can be difficult to apply the results of case studies in forming a basis for scientific generalisation ( Yin, 2003 ). Although an analysis based upon a particular case can indeed provide an understanding of the practical process, that process is liable to differ between companies and between industries. In IKEA's case, as an organisation that many companies use as a benchmark due to its long-term success, no precedent construct existed for understanding how digitalisation in retail would look – for example, by relying on normative models – but instead surfaced as an emerging process. A better understanding of how a specific retailer has approached digitalisation complements current understandings of retail's digitalisation in general ( Hagberg et al. , 2016 ; Hänninen et al. , 2021 ). By extension, we believe that the suggested conceptual framework for understanding and organising the exploration phase could be a useful tool for retail managers to explore not only digitalisation, but also any other transformation and the consequences for their businesses.

Types of data sources

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Acknowledgements

The authors contributed equally to this work. The paper is part of a research project with financial support from The Swedish Retail and Wholesale Development Council. The authors would like to thank Niklas Egels-Zandén for comments on an earlier draft of this paper, and also colleagues Catrin Lammgård and Malin Sundström who were also part of the research project. In addition, the authors would like to thank the people at IKEA who have contributed with their time and reflections, and in particular, the authors would like to appreciate Martin Hansson and Carole Bates for showing interest in this research and for inviting the authors to participate in the internal work of trying to interpret what retail digitalization means to IKEA.

Corresponding author

About the authors.

Johan Hagberg is professor of business administration specialising in marketing at the School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg. His research revolves around the digitalization of retailing, consumption and markets.

Anna Jonsson is associate professor at Lund University, School of Economics and Management. Her research interests include learning and knowledge sharing in organizations and society. She has conducted research about various industries and organizations, including the retail industry.

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Published 15 February 2023 • Inter IKEA newsroom

IKEA Sustainability and Climate Reports FY22: Reduced climate footprint and significant increase of renewable energy

The financial year 2022 (FY22)* was another year of global challenges, but also of important achievements towards meeting the IKEA sustainability commitments for 2030. Key movements include a 12% reduction of the total IKEA climate footprint in absolute terms and a 20% decrease in relative terms** compared to baseline year FY16, a significant increase in renewable energy in both retail and production, and one of the first corporate disclosures of outdoor air pollution generated across a value chain.

The IKEA Sustainability Report FY22 and the IKEA Climate Report FY22 a re issued by Inter IK EA Group and cover the collective efforts from the contributors in the IKEA franchise system and value chain.

The IKEA climate footprint in FY22 is estimated to be 25.8 million tonnes of CO2 eq – a decrease in absolute terms of 5% compared to last year, and 12% compared to baseline year FY16. The continued reduction is mainly due to an increased share of renewable energy in both retail and production, and a more energy-efficient range, particularly through the SOLHETTA LED bulbs.

"With six years of CO2 budget left in the world to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the need to act is more important than ever. We are committed to doing our part, taking a full value chain approach, working towards becoming climate positive and securing a just transition. We strive to take a holistic approach to our sustainability work, as climate change, nature loss and inequality are interdependent”, says Jon Abrahamsson Ring, CEO, Inter IKEA Group.

Highlights from the financial year 2022 include:

• Increasing the share of renewable electricity in IKEA retail and other operations*** to 76% compared to 71% in FY21. In FY22, 24 IKEA retail markets are consuming 100% renewable electricity.
• Increasing the share of renewable electricity in production to 64% compared to 52% in FY21. The increase in China was largely driven by the programme launched in FY21 to enable suppliers to purchase renewable electricity. During FY23, the programme will be rolled out to ten additional markets including Germany, Türkiye, and Sweden.
• Being one of the first businesses to disclose an outdoor air pollution footprint across a value chain.
• Expanding the more energy-efficient LED bulb range SOLHETTA – a key enabler in reducing the climate footprint of product use at home, which was reduced by 20% in FY22 compared to FY21.
• Seeing a continued increase in the sales share of our plant-based food options, such as the plant ball and the veggie hotdog.
• Going from piloting to developing a global offer that will make it easier for customers to prolong the lifespan of IKEA products.
• Strengthening the IKEA social commitments in the sustainability strategy to address increasing inequality in the world. The revision includes strengthened commitments to contribute to more resilient societies with a continued focus on children as a particularly vulnerable group, and new commitments such as ensuring a just transition with a focus on enabling decent work.

"Every year, more than 2.4 billion people are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution. There is a strong synergy between reducing GHG emissions and air pollution. With this report, we are taking the lead by being one of the first to disclose the air pollution generated across our value chain. Even though more work is needed, we hope that by transparently sharing our findings, we inspire other companies to also address air pollution while taking climate action”, says Andreas Rangel Ahrens, Head of Climate, Inter IKEA Group.

The IKEA People & Planet Positive sustainability strategy outlines the ambitions and commitments, creating a common agenda towards 2030. More examples of progress are to be found in the IKEA Sustainability Report FY22 and the IKEA Climate Report FY22 . These reports show pro gress from across the entire IKEA value chain, including Inter IKEA Group, the 12 franchisees and the many suppliers. Each part of the IKEA business sets goals and road maps to deliver on the strategy and to allow for locally tailored and relevant activities.

*FY22 is the period from 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022. **Relative climate footprint in terms of produced volume: tonnes CO2 eq per produced volume (m3) of IKEA products. ***Includes IKEA stores and other customer meeting points in IKEA retail, as well as distribution centres, offices, etc. under the IKEA Brand.

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Case Study: Analysis of IKEA’s Business Model, Competition, Global Strategy and Environmental Factors Using the PEST Framework

Introduction

IKEA is a renowned Sweden-based multinational retail company that focuses on do-it-yourself furniture, home accessories and electronic appliances. This essay will discuss how IKEA’s business model has evolved over time and how it has performed. The essay will then discuss IKEA’s main competitors and business environment using the PEST framework, before ending with a list of recommendations for IKEA to maintain its success in the US while expanding globally.

Section 1: Evaluation and evolution of IKEA’s business model concept

Initially, IKEA focused on lowest-price DIY furniture at sufficient quality, which allowed consumers access to affordable furniture which they could assemble on their own . However, the company was criticised for its poor product durability and poor design aesthetic. Since then, IKEA has invested heavily in product design and manufacturing, and now delivers affordable furniture at reasonable quality and design. The core aspects of IKEA’s business model are thus its affordable DIY products, simple Swedish design, and reasonable quality. In recent years, IKEA also offered excellent service and innovation through its products, which drove it to grow rapidly in the international furniture market. (Edvardsson and Enquist, 2011)

The company has changed the way consumers shop for furniture by turning a time-consuming, expensive and formal process into one that was more affordable, simple and fun. (Moon, 2004) IKEA did so through the use of affordably priced products, stylish catalogues, large and playful consumer showcase stores, and sleek Scandinavian design. (Khamis, 2016) This approach allowed beautiful design to be accessible to the mass consumer market. The advantages of such an approach were affordability, aesthetics and efficient setup and storage, while the disadvantages were a lack of durability and the time spent on constructing and assembling the IKEA furniture.

Section 2: PEST Analysis and Key Environmental Factors

Next, this essay will analyse IKEA’s business environment in order to better inform IKEA’s new strategies for dealing with competition and expansion. The following PEST analysis will be used to analyse the environmental factors impacting IKEA. Primarily, IKEA’s operations in different countries has presented specific political, economic and social sensitivities that affect IKEA’s supply chain, product branding and naming, and marketing, while new technologies represent both significant opportunities and threats for IKEA.

Foremost, in terms of political factors, IKEA has been affected by politics in terms of supply chain stability, regulation, political crises and product naming. IKEA’s operations remain reliant on political stability to ensure that the global supply chain remains reliable. IKEA also remains subject to regulation over safety and reliability of furniture, which may vary across different political jurisdictions. Political events such as Brexit have also caused IKEA to experience an increase in manufacturing and export prices due to the fracturing of the EU common market. Finally, IKEA has had to more carefully consider the naming of its products which have specific cultural or political connotations across different countries. For example, its Lufsig product was construed to have a name similar to a vulgarity in Hong Kong, and was used for a political protest against the Hong Kong government. (Ngai et al, 2017) This caused IKEA to launch initiatives to defuse the political tensions that arose as a result.

Next, in terms of economic factors, IKEA is set to benefit from the growing middle class in emerging markets such as East Asia, and may wish to diversify its operations away from the West given the sluggish recovery post -2008 in the US and EU. The globalization of the supply chain has also allowed IKEA to enjoy better production costs, as it has outsourced manufacturing to keep costs low.

In terms of social factors, IKEA’s operation in diverse multinational markets have led it to weigh tradeoffs in its marketing approach, when catering to countries with distinct social norms. For example, conservativism in Russia and Saudi Arabia led IKEA to remove same-sex couples and women respectively in their catalogues for those countries, but resulted in a backlash from their Western consumer market whose customers were more liberal in political beliefs. (Molin et al, 2012) IKEA has also had to deal with social backlash from the use of East German political prisoners to manufacture their products in 1980s. (Briskin, 2016) However, on the bright side, growing global interest in Scandinavian design and sustainability within the larger society has allowed IKEA to tap on these trends to drive growth.

Finally, in the area of technological factors, new technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence present opportunities for IKEA to deliver more customised and experiential consumer experiences. Furthermore, IKEA is able to conduct on-site, on-demand manufacturing through advances in scalable 3D printing. However, IKEA has to be mindful of rising competition from white label manufacturers and copycats enabled through the technology of e-commerce.

Section 3: Evaluation of IKEA’s competition

IKEA’s key competitors are Walmart, Amazon and Ashley Furniture Industries. By revenue, IKEA’s 2018 revenue was USD $44.6 billion, which puts it behind diversified retail conglomerates such as Walmart (USD $500.3 billion) and Amazon (USD $207 billion), but ahead of pure-play furniture companies such as Ashley Furniture Industries (USD $4.7 billion). (Buehlmann and Schuler, 2009) These companies were selected because they represent a broad spectrum of furniture and home appliance providers. While IKEA is a pure-play furniture company like Ashley Furniture Industries, Walmart and Amazon may be seen more as aggregators of third-party furniture brands, with Walmart being more dominant in physical retail and Amazon being more dominant in online retail.

Their advantages and disadvantages in satisfying the value propositions of their customers will be evaluated according to the dimensions of affordability, product quality, branding, supply chain management, digital marketing and e-commerce. Foremost, for IKEA, the company delivers on strong branding and affordable furniture at reasonable quality, but needs to expand more actively in digital marketing and e-commerce sales, as well as the management of its supply chain, which is necessary to keep costs and prices low. Secondly, for Walmart, the company excels in affordable furniture and low costs due to its supply chain excellence, but needs to improve on its branding, digital marketing and e-commerce sales. Thirdly, for Amazon, the company is strong in its supply chain and e-commerce sales, but as it is an aggregator of several third-party furniture suppliers, it is weak in product quality, branding and digital marketing, and needs to improve those aspects. Finally, for Ashley Furniture Industries, the company is strong in branding and quality, but needs to improve its affordability, digital marketing and e-commerce.

Section 4: International expansion strategies to maintain customer value, satisfaction and loyalty.

As IKEA looks to maintain markets in the US while expanding to emerging markets in Asia and India, they should focus on branding, innovation, after-purchase services, premiumisation and localisation of marketing in order to maintain customer value, satisfaction and loyalty.

Foremost, IKEA should focus on branding by continuing to promote uniqueness of Scandinavian design rather than diversifying its product ranges, because diversification would result in brand dilution and a weakening of IKEA’s distinctive global brand. (Moon, 2004)

Secondly, IKEA should continue to innovate in order to maintain aesthetic appeal and functional quality. (Moon, 2004) IKEA’s chief weakness in its products has been their slightly inferior design and quality, which are typically not very durable when compared to those of their competitors. IKEA should therefore invest more actively in research and design to create products that are more durable and beautiful.

Thirdly, IKEA should Include better after-purchase services such as assembly and warranty guarantees. This may include having home assembly services at an affordable price point.

Fourthly, in line with the demand from the growing middle class in emerging markets, IKEA should launch a premium range of products that is more durable and luxurious, to cater to the upper-class tastes of the new middle class. (Moon, 2004)

Finally, IKEA should localise marketing to local cultural contexts and sensitivities as they expand. This may be done through the use of new technologies such as augmented reality and AI to provide better online customer experiences that are experiential and customised. Also, as shown by a 2007 study by Capdevielle et al, IKEA Sweden experienced success in catering its product catalogues to fit the tastes of the Chinese and French markets. (Capdevielle et al, 2007) Hence, while IKEA should not diversify its products, IKEA should adapt and localise its marketing to local contexts.

Briskin, L. (2016). The employer offensive: anti-unionism and lockouts. In  III International Conference Strikes and Social Conflicts: combined historical approaches to conflict. Proceedings  (pp. 191-208). CEFID-UAB,.

Buehlmann, U., & Schuler, A. (2009). The US household furniture industry: Status and opportunities.  Forest Products Journal ,  59 (9), 20.

Capdevielle, L., Li, M., & Nogal, P. (2007). A creation of competitive advantage by using differentiation of company´ s strategy actions: The case study of IKEA Sweden with experiences on Chinese and French markets.

Edvardsson, B., & Enquist, B. (2011). The service excellence and innovation model: lessons from IKEA and other service frontiers.  Total Quality Management & Business Excellence ,  22 (5), 535-551.

Khamis, S. (2016). Brand IKEA in a Global Cultural Economy: A Case Study.  Consumer Culture: Selected Essays .

Molin, A. N. N. A. (2012). Ikea regrets cutting women from Saudi ad.  Wall Street Journal .

Moon, Y. (2004).  IKEA invades America . Harvard Business School.

Ngai, S. B. C., & Falkheimer, J. (2017). How IKEA turned a crisis into an opportunity.  Public Relations Review ,  43 (1), 246-248.

Wei, L. Q., & Zou, X. (2007). IKEA in China: facing dilemmas in an emerging economy.  Asian Case Research Journal ,  11 (01), 1-21.

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IKEA Case: One Company’s Fight to End Child Labor

A business ethics case study.

In this business ethics case study, Swedish multinational company IKEA faced accusations relating to child labor abuses in the rug industry in Pakistan which posed a serious challenge for the company and its supply chain management goals.

Empty garage with a highlighted walking path in front of an IKEA.

Photo credit: mastrminda/Pixabay

Yuvraj Rao '23 , a 2022-23 Hackworth Fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics graduated with a marketing major and entrepreneurship minor from Santa Clara University.

Introduction

IKEA is a Swedish multinational company that was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad. [1] The company mainly provides simple, affordable home furniture and furnishings, and it pioneered DIY, or do it yourself, furniture. Kamprad originally sold binders, fountain pens, and cigarette lighters, but eventually expanded to furniture in 1948. According to the Journal of International Management, in 1953, Kamprad offered products that came as “a self assembled furniture” for the lowest price, which ultimately became a key part of IKEA’s value proposition going forward. In 1961, IKEA started to contact furniture factories in Poland to order chairs from a factory in Radomsko. [2] Outsourcing to Poland was mainly due to other Swedish furniture stores pressuring Swedish manufacturers to stop selling to IKEA. In the mid 1960’s, IKEA continued its supplier expansion into Norway, largely because IKEA didn’t want to “own their own line of production,” [3] and Germany due to its ideal location (downtown, suburban area) to place an IKEA store. Given IKEA’s suppliers were now not just in Sweden, it led to an increased importance on developing strong relationships with its suppliers.

In the following decades, IKEA continued its expansion and solidified its identity as a major retail outlet with parts being manufactured around the world. By the mid 90’s, IKEA was the “world’s largest specialized furniture retailer with their GDP reaching $4.5 billion in August of 1994.” [4] It also worked with 2,300 suppliers in 70 different countries, who supplied 11,200 products and had 24 “trading offices in nineteen countries that monitored production, tested product ideas, negotiated products, and checked quality.” [5] IKEA’s dependence on its suppliers ultimately led to problems in the mid 1990’s. At this time, IKEA was the largest furniture retailer in the world, and had nearly “100 stores in 17 countries.” [6] Also during this time, a Swedish documentary was released that highlighted the use of child labor in the rug industry in Pakistan, which impacted IKEA given it had production there. The rug industry in particular is extremely labor intensive and is one of the largest “export earners for India, Pakistan, Nepal and Morocco.” Here, children are forced to work long hours for very little pay (if there is any pay at all). In some cases, their wages are only enough to pay for food and lodging. In cases where children are not paid, the wages are used by the loom owner to pay the parents and agents who brought the children to the factories. Additionally, the work the children must do comes with a lot of risk. More specifically, children face risks of diminishing eyesight and damaged lungs from “the dust and fluff from the wool used in the carpets.” [7] As a result of these working conditions, many of these children are very sick when they grow up. Despite these terrible conditions, it isn’t that simple for families not to send children to work at these factories. A lot of the parents can’t afford food, water, education, or healthcare, so they are often left with no choice but to send their children to work for an additional source of income. [8]

 IKEA and Child Labor Accusations

The accusations of child labor in the rug industry in Pakistan posed a serious challenge for IKEA and its supply chain management goals. It would need to address the serious issues of alleged injustice for the sake of its reputation and brand image. Additionally, as IKEA also had suppliers in India, it would need to be in compliance with India’s “landmark legislation act against child labor, the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986.” [9]

As a result of these accusations, IKEA ultimately ended its contracts with Pakistani rug manufacturers, but the problem of child labor in its supply chain still persisted in other countries that were supplying IKEA. Marianne Barner, the business area manager for rugs for IKEA at the time, stated that the film was a “real eye-opener…I myself had spent a couple of months in India for some supply chain training, but child labor was never mentioned.” [10] She also added that a key issue was that IKEA’s “buyers met suppliers at offices in the cities and rarely visited the actual production sites.” [11] The lack of visits to the actual production sites made it difficult for IKEA to identify the issue of child labor in these countries.

To make matters worse, in 1995, a German film “showed pictures of children working at an Indian rug supplier... ‘There was no doubt that they were rugs for IKEA,’ says business area manager for textiles at the time, Göran Ydstrand.” [12] In response to these accusations, Barner and her team went to talk to suppliers in Nepal, Bangladesh, and India. They also conducted surprise raids on rug factories and confirmed that there was child labor in these factories. The issue of child labor, along with the accusations of having formaldehyde (a harmful chemical) in IKEA’s best selling BILLY bookcases and the discovery of unsafe working conditions for adults (such as dipping hands in petrol without gloves), led to increased costs and a significantly damaged reputation for the company.

It was later discovered that the German film released in 1995 was fake, and the renowned German journalist who was responsible for this film was involved in “several fake reports about different subjects and companies.” [13] IKEA was now left with three options. First, some members of IKEA management wanted to permanently shut down production of their rugs in South Asia. Another option was to do nothing and proceed with its existing practices now that it was announced that the film was fake. The third option was that the company could attempt to tackle the issue of child labor that was clearly evident in its supply chain, regardless of whether the film was fake or not. IKEA ultimately decided to opt for the third option, and its recent discoveries would eventually help guide the policies the company implemented to address these issues, particularly child labor in India.

Steps Taken to Address Child Labor in the Supply Chain

IKEA took multiple steps to deal with its damaged reputation and issues of child labor in its supply chain. One way in which it did this was through institutional partnerships. One such partnership was with Save the Children, which began in 1994. According to Save the Children’s website, one of the main goals of their partnership is to realize children's “rights to a healthy and secure childhood, which includes a quality education. By listening to and learning from children, we develop long-term projects that empower communities to create a better everyday life for children.” [14] Furthermore, the partnership is intended to “drive sustainable business operations across the entire value chain.” [15] Together, IKEA and Save the Children are focused on addressing the main causes of child labor in India’s cotton-growing areas. [16] Save the Children also advised IKEA to bring in an independent consultant to ensure that suppliers were in compliance with their agreements, which further improved IKEA’s practices in its supply chain. IKEA also partnered with UNICEF to combat child labor in its supply chain. According to the IKEA Foundation, in 2014, IKEA provided UNICEF with six new grants totaling €24.9 million with a focus “on reaching the most marginalized and disadvantaged children living in poor communities and in strengthening UNICEF’s response in emergency and conflict situations.” Additionally, five of the six grants were given to help programs in “Afghanistan, China, India, Pakistan, and Rwanda,” with a “focus on early childhood development, child protection, education, and helping adolescents to improve their lives and strengthen their communities.” [17]

Next, IKEA and Save the Children worked together to develop IWAY, which was launched in 2000. [18] IWAY is the IKEA code of conduct for suppliers. According to the IKEA website, “IWAY is the IKEA way of responsibly sourcing products, services, materials and components. It sets clear expectations and ways of working for environmental, social and working conditions, as well as animal welfare, and is mandatory for all suppliers and service providers that work with IKEA.” [19] In addition, IWAY is meant to have an impact in the following four areas: “promoting positive impacts on the environment,” “securing decent and meaningful work for workers,” “respecting children’s rights”, and “improving the welfare of animals in the IKEA value chain.” [20] IWAY is used as a foundation to collaborate with IKEA’s suppliers and sub-contractors to ensure supply chain transparency.

As mentioned previously, one of the main goals of IKEA’s partnership with Save the Children was to address child labor in India’s cotton-growing areas. To do this, IKEA and Save the Children developed a program that would ultimately help more than 1,800 villages between 2009 and 2014. More specifically, the program moved nearly 150,000 children out of child labor and into classrooms. Also, as a result of this program, more than 10,000 migrant children “moved back into their home communities.” [21] Last but not least, the program trained almost 2,000 teachers and 1,866 Anganwadi workers (whose duties include teaching students and educating villagers on healthcare [22] ) in order to provide each village with a community leader. This was to ensure that the community had a skilled leader to assist in educating the villagers. In 2012, the IKEA Foundation and Save the Children announced that they would expand with new programs in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. This joint program illustrates IKEA’s commitment to improving communities in addition to helping children go to school.

Conclusion & Looking Ahead

IKEA has taken numerous steps to ensure that suppliers abide by the IWAY Code of Conduct. Companies around the world can learn from the policies IKEA has put in place to ensure that each company has control and complete oversight over their supply chains, which can lead to a more transparent and ethical supply chain. According to The IKEA WAY on Purchasing Products, Materials and Services, one way in which IKEA does this is by requiring all suppliers to share the content of the code to all co-workers and sub-suppliers, thus leading to more accountability among the company's suppliers. IKEA also believes in the importance of long term relationships with its suppliers. Therefore, if for some reason, a supplier is not meeting the standards set forth by the code, IKEA will continue to work with the supplier if the supplier shows a willingness to improve its practices with actionable steps to complete before a specified period of time. [23]

Additionally, during the IWAY implementation process, IKEA monitors its suppliers and service providers. To do this, IKEA has a team of auditors who conduct audits (both announced and unannounced) at supplier facilities. The auditors are also in charge of following up on action plans if suppliers are failing to meet the agreed upon standards specified by IWAY. Along with this, “IKEA…has the Compliance and Monitoring Group, an internal independent group that is responsible for independent verification of implementation and compliance activities related to IWAY and Sustainability.” [24] IKEA also has independent third party teams who conduct inspections on behalf of IKEA. [25] By conducting audits and putting together teams to ensure cooperation from suppliers throughout the supply chain, companies can be better equipped to prevent unethical practices in the production of goods and services. In Ximeng Han’s Analysis and Reflection of IKEA’s Supply Chain Management, Han highlights IWAY’s importance in maintaining links with IKEA’s suppliers. [26] Therefore, IWAY plays a crucial role in ensuring supply chain transparency and in building a more ethical and sustainable supply chain.

In addition to all of the policies IKEA has put in place to address issues in its supply chain, the company has also donated a lot of money to combat child labor in India. More specifically, according to an IKEA Foundation article written in 2013, “Since 2000, the IKEA Foundation has committed €60 million to help fight child labour in India and Pakistan, aiming to prevent children from working in the cotton, metalware and carpet industries.” [27] Furthermore, in 2009, the company announced that it would donate $48 million to UNICEF to “help poor children in India.” [28]

IKEA’s goal to completely eliminate child labor from its supply chain is an ongoing battle, and it is still committed to ensuring that this is ultimately the case. More specifically, it is extremely difficult to completely eliminate child labor from a company’s supply chain because of the various aspects involved. According to a report published in 2018 by the International Labour Organization, these aspects include a legal commitment, building and “extending” social protection systems (including helping people find jobs), “expanding access to free, quality public education,” addressing supply chain issues, and providing more protection for children in general. [29] Furthermore, Han points out the potential downsides that could arise as a result of having a global supply chain like IKEA does. Given IKEA is an international retailer, the company “has to spend a lot of time, money and manpower to enter new markets due to the different cultures, laws and competitive markets in different regions, and there is also a significant risk of zero return.” [30] Han also argues that the COVID-19 pandemic showed IKEA’s and many other companies’ inability to respond to “fluctuations in supply and demand,” primarily due to inflexible supply chains. [31] This information points out the various aspects that need to align in order to completely end the issue of child labor throughout the world, as well as the difficulties of having a global supply chain, which is why child labor is so difficult to completely eliminate.

Specific to IKEA’s actions, in 2021, IKEA announced three key focus areas for its action pledge: “Further integrating children’s rights into the existing IKEA due diligence system (by reviewing IWAY from a child rights’ perspective in order to strengthen the code),” “accelerating the work to promote decent work for young workers,” and partnering “up to increase and scale efforts.” [32] IKEA’s fight to end child labor in India highlights the importance of supply chain transparency and putting policies in place that ensures cooperation from suppliers and all parties involved. Additionally, in a Forbes article written in 2021, “According to the data from the OpenText survey…When asked whether purchasing ethically sourced and/or produced products matters, 81 percent of respondents said yes.” [33] Steve Banker, who covers logistics and supply chain management, also adds, “What is interesting is that nearly 20 percent of these survey respondents said that it has only mattered to them within the last year, which indicates that the Covid pandemic, and some of the product shortages we have faced, has made consumers re-evaluate their stance on ethical sourcing.” [34] These results confirm that customers are now considering how a product was sourced in their purchasing decisions, which makes it even more important for IKEA to be transparent about its efforts to eliminate child labor from its supply chain. Furthermore, the company’s open commitment to eliminating child labor and helping communities in India is beneficial in maintaining a positive relationship with its stakeholders.

The increase in globalization has made it even more essential for companies to monitor their supply chains and have complete oversight over business practices. IKEA is one of the companies leading the way in building a more ethical and sustainable supply chain, but more companies need to follow suit and implement policies similar to IWAY that holds all parties in the supply chain accountable for their actions. Through supply chain transparency and accountability, companies will likely be better equipped to handle issues that arise throughout their respective supply chains. Furthermore, by implementing new policies, conducting audits, and maintaining close communication with suppliers, companies can work to eliminate child labor in their supply chains and put children where they belong: in school.

Reflection Questions:

• What does this case teach you about supply chain ethics?
• What are some of the ways in which management/leaders can ensure compliance of the standards set forth by a company in terms of supplier behavior and ethical sourcing?
• Who is primarily responsible for ensuring ethical behavior throughout the supply chain? Is it the company? The suppliers? Both?
• How can companies utilize the various platforms and technologies that exist today to better understand and oversee their supply chains? 
• IKEA has taken numerous steps to address child labor in its supply chain. Do you think every business working in a context that may involve child labor has a duty to act in a similar way? Why or why not?

Works Cited 

“ About Ikea – Our Heritage .” IKEA.

“ Anganwadi Workers .” Journals Of India , 16 June 2020. 

Banker, Steve. “ Do Consumers Care about Ethical Sourcing? ” Forbes , 9 Nov. 2022.

Bharadwaj , Prashant, et al. Perverse Consequences of Well-Intentioned Regulation ... - World Bank Group .

“ Child Labor in the Carpet Industry Rugmark: Carpets: Rugs: Pakistan .” Child Labor in the Carpet Industry RugMark |Carpets | Rugs | Pakistan .

“ Creating a Sustainable IKEA Value Chain with Iway. ” Sustainability Is Key in Our Supplier Code of Conduct .

“ Ending Child Labour by 2025 - International Labour Organization .” International Labour Organization .

“ Film on Child Labour Is Eye-Opener for IKEA .” IKEA Museum , 31 Mar. 2022.

Foundation , ECLT. “ Why Does Child Labour Happen? Here Are Some of the Root Causes. ” ECLT Foundation , 17 May 2023.

Han, Ximeng. “ Analysis and Reflection of IKEA’s Supply Chain Management. ” Analysis and Reflection of IKEA’s Supply Chain Management | Atlantis Press , 27 Dec. 2022.

“ Human Rights and Global Sourcing: IKEA in India. ” Journal of International Management , 13 May 2011.

“ IKEA and IKEA Foundation .” Save the Children International .

“ IKEA Foundation Contributes €24.9 Million to UNICEF to Help Advance Children’s Rights. ” IKEA Foundation , 26 May 2020.

“ IKEA Foundation Helps Fight the Roots Causes of Child Labour in Pakistan .” IKEA Foundation , 18 Feb. 2013.

“ Ikea Gives $48 Million to Fight India Child Labor .” NBC News , 23 Feb. 2009.

“ IKEA Supports 2021 as the UN International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour. ” About IKEA.

The Ikea Way on Purchasing Products , Materials and Services .

Jasińska, Joanna, et al. “ Flat-Pack Success: IKEA Turns to Poland for Its Furniture. ” – The First News .

Thomas , Susan. “ IKEA Foundation Tackles Child Labor in India’s Cotton Communities .” Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship , 15 July 2014.

[1] “About Ikea – Our Heritage.” IKEA .

[2] Jasińska, Joanna, et al. “Flat-Pack Success: IKEA Turns to Poland for Its Furniture.” – The First News .

[3] “Human Rights and Global Sourcing: IKEA in India.” Journal of International Management , 13 May 2011.

[4] “Human Rights and Global Sourcing: IKEA in India.” Journal of International Management , 13 May 2011.

[5] “Human Rights and Global Sourcing: IKEA in India.” Journal of International Management , 13 May 2011.

[6] “Film on Child Labour Is Eye-Opener for IKEA.” IKEA Museum , 31 Mar. 2022.

[7] “Child Labor in the Carpet Industry Rugmark: Carpets: Rugs: Pakistan.” Child Labor in the Carpet Industry RugMark |Carpets | Rugs | Pakistan .

[8] Foundation , ECLT. “Why Does Child Labour Happen? Here Are Some of the Root Causes.” ECLT Foundation , 17 May 2023.

[9] Bharadwaj , Prashant, et al. Perverse Consequences of Well-Intentioned Regulation ... - World Bank Group .

[10] “Film on Child Labour Is Eye-Opener for IKEA.” IKEA Museum , 31 Mar. 2022.

[11] “Film on Child Labour Is Eye-Opener for IKEA.” IKEA Museum , 31 Mar. 2022.

[12] “Film on Child Labour Is Eye-Opener for IKEA.” IKEA Museum , 31 Mar. 2022.

[13] “Film on Child Labour Is Eye-Opener for IKEA.” IKEA Museum , 31 Mar. 2022.

[14] “IKEA and IKEA Foundation.” Save the Children International .

[15] “IKEA and IKEA Foundation.” Save the Children International .

[16] “IKEA and IKEA Foundation.” Save the Children International .

[17] “IKEA Foundation Contributes €24.9 Million to UNICEF to Help Advance Children’s Rights.” IKEA Foundation , 26 May 2020.

[18] “IKEA and IKEA Foundation.” Save the Children International .

[19] “Creating a Sustainable IKEA Value Chain with Iway.” Sustainability Is Key in Our Supplier Code of Conduct .

[20] “Creating a Sustainable IKEA Value Chain with Iway.” Sustainability Is Key in Our Supplier Code of Conduct .

[21] Thomas, Susan. “IKEA Foundation Tackles Child Labor in India’s Cotton Communities.” Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship , 15 July 2014.

[22] “Anganwadi Workers.” Journals Of India , 16 June 2020.

[23] The Ikea Way on Purchasing Products, Materials and Services .

[24] The Ikea Way on Purchasing Products, Materials and Services .

[25] The Ikea Way on Purchasing Products, Materials and Services .

[26] Han, Ximeng. “Analysis and Reflection of IKEA’s Supply Chain Management.” Analysis and Reflection of IKEA’s Supply Chain Management | Atlantis Press , 27 Dec. 2022.

[27] “IKEA Foundation Helps Fight the Roots Causes of Child Labour in Pakistan.” IKEA Foundation , 18 Feb. 2013.

[28] “Ikea Gives $48 Million to Fight India Child Labor.” NBC News , 23 Feb. 2009.

[29] “Ending Child Labour by 2025 - International Labour Organization.” International Labour Organization .

[30] Han, Ximeng. “Analysis and Reflection of IKEA’s Supply Chain Management.” Analysis and Reflection of IKEA’s Supply Chain Management | Atlantis Press , 27 Dec. 2022.

[31] Han, Ximeng. “Analysis and Reflection of IKEA’s Supply Chain Management.” Analysis and Reflection of IKEA’s Supply Chain Management | Atlantis Press , 27 Dec. 2022.

[32] “IKEA Supports 2021 as the UN International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour.” About IKEA .

[33] Banker, Steve. “Do Consumers Care about Ethical Sourcing?” Forbes , 9 Nov. 2022.

[34] Banker, Steve. “Do Consumers Care about Ethical Sourcing?” Forbes , 9 Nov. 2022.

SWOT Analysis of IKEA 2023

This is IKEA International Group SWOT analysis. For more information on how to do a SWOT analysis please refer to our article.

Company Overview

You can find more information about the business in its official website or Wikipedia’s article .

IKEA SWOT Analysis

• Customer knowledge. One of the key competitive advantages IKEA has is its extensive knowledge about the customers. The company understands the purchasing factors that influence customers to buy and implements the best practices to induce that decision. IKEA offers low prices and a huge range of products. Designers constantly introduce new design products that look stylish in the eyes of customers. All the products are designed so it would be easy to transport and assemble. Moreover, the company offers the widest product range and positive shopping experience. All of these factors are aligned with what customers want and need and which results in higher sales. Without such extensive customer knowledge and best practices to benefit from that knowledge, IKEA would be unable to outcompete its current competitors.
• Constantly using innovations to drive costs down. Low prices are the cornerstone of IKEA business idea and the the company always try to do things as efficient and cost-effective as possible. To drive costs down all the time, the company must find new and innovative ways to do that and to incorporate them in its businesses model. The business’ innovations include new materials that contribute more to sustainable environment and are less costly or using newest ways of packaging, handling and transporting materials.
• Supply chain integration. IKEA is committed to long lasting relationships with its suppliers. In this way, the company can order large volumes and benefit from lower prices and greater quality while suppliers are assured of guaranteed orders. IKEA sources its materials close to suppliers to reduce transporting costs. The company also uses IWAY approach to closely integrate suppliers with its supply chain. All the efforts of closely integrating supply chain results in lower costs and a competitive advantage.
• Brand reputation and market presence. According to Interbrand, IKEA is the most valuable furniture retailer brand in the world, valued at nearly $US 12.8 billion in 2012. The business operates 332 stores in 38 countries and is present in the major world markets. More than 600 million customers visit IKEA stores every year. Worldwide market presence and strong brand reputation ensures that customers will often choose IKEA over its competitors.
• Diversified product portfolio. Unlike IKEA’s largest competitors, the company has fairly diversified businesses. In addition to its furniture products, the company operates restaurants, houses and flats. Although, firm’s main business is designing, manufacturing and selling furniture it is not so affected by the changing forces in this market as other furniture retailers.
• Negative publicity. The company has been criticized many times for issues like poor treatment of employees, questionable advertising practices or lobbying government authorities. Negative publicity decreases brand reputation and customer loyalty.
• Low quality of products and services. IKEA is unable to find compromise between continuous cost reductions while maintaining the same quality of products. According to UK Customer Insights report on IKEA by Verdict, IKEA’s customers are less satisfied with its product and services quality than the average customer in UK buying at other stores. Firm’s cost reductions lead to decreasing product quality, which was followed by higher number of products returned and damaged brand.
• Standard products. IKEA’s main competitive advantage derives from low costs, which in part are achieved due to standardized products. Standardized products attract fewer customer segments. Therefore, the business inability to offer better quality more customized products allows its competitors to fill that niche and fortify their position in it.

Opportunities

• Further expansion into developing economies. Retail markets grew by at least 5% on average in emerging markets in the last year, opening huge opportunities for IKEA’s revenue growth. The company currently operates in most of the developed economies but hasn’t firmly stepped into developing economies, except China. There are great opportunities for IKEA to expand into Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and Malaysia to increase its presence in these markets to sustain future growth.
• Growing online sales. Online retail sales account for 17% and 4% of total retail sales in UK and US respectively. Online sales grow constantly and with 870 million visitors to its website IKEA could exploit this opportunity and benefit from increased sales and lower costs.
• Expansion to growing grocery market. The current trend of eating healthier food has resulted in higher demand for grocery products in many developed economies. IKEA has an opportunity to expand its grocery business by introducing more grocery stores in its current retail places. The company is already successfully managing its food outlets, so this expansion opportunity would be well aligned with the current operations.
• Intensifying competition. Many low cost retailers such as Walmart, ASDA or Tesco are entering homeware specialists market where IKEA operates. These large retailers have similar specifics as IKEA, including low costs, well managed supply chain and huge market presence and can easily gain some market share from IKEA.
• Growth of average consumer income. Growth of average consumer income means that people buy less low price and low quality products, which is exactly what IKEA offers in its stores. With the rising income people will be less attracted to IKEA and will turn to retailers that offer higher quality homeware products.
• IKEA (2013). About IKEA. Available at: http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/about_ikea/index.html
• The Times 100 (2012). Business Case Studies. Ikea case study. Available at: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/ikea/swot-analysis-and-sustainable-business-planning/strengths.html#axzz2VB9TPpjz
• Interbrand (2012). Best Global Brands in 2012. Available at: http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/2012/Best-Global-Brands-2012.aspx
• Wikipedia (2013). IKEA. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA
• IKEA Mission Statement
• SWOT Analysis of Walt Disney 2023
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IKEA Case Study: IKEA’s Genius Business Strategy

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Are you looking for an IKEA case study according to Michael Porter’s Five Forces?

Porter’s IKEA case study shows one company’s success in fitting together business activities, business strategy, and operations. His analysis shows how the activities connect to create a uniquely competitive business.

IKEA’s Fit Between Activities

Good strategies depend on the connection among many things. Fit means the value or cost of one activity is affected by the way other activities are performed – in other words, “synergy.” If the activities fit together, they each meaningfully contribute to the company’s increased value or lower cost, and they work strongly together. The IKEA case analysis below is one example of fit between different activities.

This is a clear departure from the (mistaken) idea of the one core competence. If strategy truly is based on one core competence, then it becomes relatively easy to replicate. More often, industries compete fiercely to control the one key “resource” – distribution channels, product portfolios – thus driving up cost. In reality, strong strategies are built on many unique activities that fit together to deliver the unique value proposition. Later, you’ll see how fit works well in the IKEA case study, despite certain trade-offs.

Fit arises in 3 ways . Keep this in mind when you read the IKEA case analysis:

• Example: many of Southwest’s activities are directionally pointed toward lowering cost and increasing convenience.
• When activities are inconsistent, they cancel each other out.
• Netflix’s large catalogue gives more chances to collect data points to make better recommendations.
• IKEA’s room displays substitute for sales associates, thus lowering cost.
• Dell will preload software onto PCs, substituting for the customer’s IT department.

Fit discourages rivals in a few ways:

• With a large range of activities, it becomes unclear which of the company’s activities are most valuable to replicate.
• As a simplistic example, say there are 5 activities that give a company a competitive advantage. If the chance of replicating one activity is 90%, then the chance of replicating all of them is 0.9^5, or 62%.
• An activity that fits one value chain can punish a different value chain, if it lacks synergies with the other activities or contradicts them.
• Activities with fit make it easier to see where the weak link in the chain is (think about this in the IKEA case analysis later).

The IKEA Case Study

Let’s examine a masterpiece of strategy in IKEA using the IKEA case study analysis. Their mission is to deliver stylish furniture at low prices. Their activities show clear trade-offs and strong fit:

• Assembling furniture yourself also seems to increase your enjoyment of it, maybe because of endowment effect. 
• Compact boxes reduce freight shipping costs from the manufacturer.
• This means time from buying to having furniture in your house is much faster than shipped furniture.
• IKEA stores are huge warehouses in large suburban locations with highway access. With large parking lots and loading zones, they allow customers to self-service and deliver their own furniture.
• IKEA showrooms have minimal staff, with the entire inventory laid out for buyers to peruse.
• IKEA cafeterias are self-service and customers are encouraged to bus their own trays.
• IKEA designs its own products, allowing trade-offs in styling and cost.
• Furniture has few customization options, allowing production in bulk and bargaining at scale.
• A narrower catalogue also allows IKEA to keep its warehouses fully stocked, instead of requiring shipping.

Many of these activities fit together and reinforce each other to provide low-priced furniture. The furniture’s self-assembled design reduces manufacturing costs, storage costs, shipping costs from manufacturer, and shipping costs to customers. In turn, IKEA’s locations make the furniture’s self-assembled design even more effective. 

Note how each activity is distinctly a trade-off : you either have furniture disassembled or not. You either have salespeople on the showroom floor or not. This is one of the aspects covered in the IKEA case study analysis.

Many traditional furniture retailers practice the inverse of IKEA’s value chain. If they tried to adopt one of IKEA’s activities, they’d find it less compatible with their own value chain, and so they’d gain very little of IKEA’s competitive advantage.

Note too that, in making these tradeoffs, IKEA is deliberately alienating customer groups – those who want furniture ordered seamlessly to their homes, who want nice salespeople to guide them through options, who want unique and fancifully designed furniture. The IKEA case study analysis shows how trade-offs can sometimes have big strategic payoffs.

Activity System Map

To visualize the strength of fit between activities, place the activities on a map.

• Start by placing the key components of the value proposition.
• Make a list of the activities most responsible for competitive advantage
• Add each activity to the map. Draw lines wherever there is fit: when the activity contributes to value proposition, or when two activities affect each other

Here’s an example for IKEA:

A densely interconnected activity map is a good sign. A sparsely connected map shows weak strategy.

The activity map isn’t useful just for description of your current strategy. It can also be used for ideation for new strategies:

• Can you improve fit between activities? 
• Can you find ways for an activity to substitute for another?
• Can you find new activities or enhancements to what you already do?
• Are there new products or features you can offer because of your activity map, that rivals will find difficult to emulate?

Porter’s IKEA case study is an example of a competitive business in a particular area of an industry. Porter’s IKEA case study shows business activities and strategy intersecting successfully.

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Carrie Cabral

Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.

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Furniture Retail

IKEA - Statistics & Facts

Ikea’s business model, ikea worldwide, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Global furniture market size from 2022 to 2030

Revenue of the furniture market worldwide 2023, by country

World: most valuable retail brands 2023

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Current statistics on this topic.

IKEA: annual global sales 2001-2023

IKEA: number of stores in 2024, by region

IKEA.com: number of visits globally 2010-2023

Related topics

Recommended.

• Furniture e-commerce
• Furniture market in the U.S.
• Home improvement in the U.S.
• Furniture industry in Europe
• Furniture market in Latin America

Recommended statistics

• Premium Statistic Revenue of the furniture industry worldwide 2018-2028
• Premium Statistic Revenue of the furniture market worldwide 2023, by country
• Premium Statistic Kitchen & dining furniture market revenue 2023, by country
• Premium Statistic Furniture e-commerce penetration rate in the U.S. 2020-2029
• Premium Statistic World: most valuable retail brands 2023

Revenue of the furniture industry worldwide 2018-2028

Revenue of the furniture market worldwide from 2018 to 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Revenue of the furniture market worldwide in 2023, by country (in million U.S. dollars)

Kitchen & dining furniture market revenue 2023, by country

Revenue of the kitchen & dining furniture market worldwide 2023, by country (in million U.S. dollars)

Furniture e-commerce penetration rate in the U.S. 2020-2029

Furniture e-commerce market penetration rate in the United States from 2020 to 2029

Most valuable retail brands worldwide in 2023, by brand value (in million U.S. dollars)

Key figures of IKEA

• Premium Statistic IKEA: annual global sales 2001-2023
• Basic Statistic IKEA: sales share 2023, by region
• Basic Statistic IKEA: global retail sales share 2023, by sales channel
• Basic Statistic IKEA: net income worldwide 2009-2023
• Premium Statistic IKEA: brand value worldwide 2016-2023
• Basic Statistic ikea.com: e-commerce net sales 2015-2023
• Basic Statistic IKEA: top selling countries of IKEA products 2023
• Premium Statistic Global IKEA app downloads 2020-2022, by month

Annual revenue of the IKEA Group worldwide from 2001 to 2023 (in billion euros)

IKEA: sales share 2023, by region

Sales share of INGKA Holdings B.V. (IKEA) in 2023, by region

IKEA: global retail sales share 2023, by sales channel

Retail sales share of IKEA worldwide in fiscal year 2023, by sales channel

IKEA: net income worldwide 2009-2023

Net income of INGKA Group (IKEA) worldwide from 2009 to 2023 (in million euros)

IKEA: brand value worldwide 2016-2023

IKEA's brand value worldwide from 2016 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

ikea.com: e-commerce net sales 2015-2023

E-commerce net sales of ikea.com from 2015 to 2023 (in million U.S. dollars)

IKEA: top selling countries of IKEA products 2023

Leading five selling countries for IKEA products as share of sales in 2023

Global IKEA app downloads 2020-2022, by month

Monthly downloads of the IKEA app worldwide from January 2020 to August 2022 (in 1,000s)

Operational figures

• Basic Statistic IKEA: number of traditional stores worldwide 2023
• Premium Statistic IKEA: number of stores in 2024, by region
• Premium Statistic IKEA: number of store visits globally 2010-2023
• Premium Statistic IKEA.com: number of visits globally 2010-2023
• Premium Statistic IKEA: employee count worldwide 2013-2023

IKEA: number of traditional stores worldwide 2023

Number of traditional IKEA stores worldwide between 2020 and 2023

Number of stores of the IKEA Group worldwide in 2024, by region

IKEA: number of store visits globally 2010-2023

Number of visits to IKEA stores worldwide from 2010 to 2023 (in millions)

Number of visits to IKEA.com worldwide from 2010 to 2023 (in millions)

IKEA: employee count worldwide 2013-2023

Number of employees of the IKEA Group worldwide from 2013 to 2023 (in thousands)

• Basic Statistic Most well-known furniture online shops in the United States 2023
• Premium Statistic Americans who bought furniture/household goods on the internet in 2023
• Basic Statistic United Kingdom: most popular department and home stores 2023
• Premium Statistic IKEA brand profile in the United States 2023
• Premium Statistic IKEA brand profile in the UK 2023
• Premium Statistic IKEA brand profile in Germany 2023

Most well-known furniture online shops in the United States 2023

Leading furniture online shops ranked by brand awareness in the United States in 2023

Americans who bought furniture/household goods on the internet in 2023

Share of consumers who bought furniture/household goods on the internet in the United States as of December 2023, by age

United Kingdom: most popular department and home stores 2023

Most popular department and home stores in the United Kingdom (UK) as of 2nd quarter 2023

IKEA brand profile in the United States 2023

IKEA brand awareness, usage, popularity, loyalty, and buzz among furniture online shop users in the United States in 2023

IKEA brand profile in the UK 2023

IKEA brand awareness, usage, popularity, loyalty, and buzz among furniture online shop users in the UK in 2023

IKEA brand profile in Germany 2023

IKEA brand awareness, usage, popularity, loyalty, and buzz among furniture online shop users in Germany in 2023

Competitors

• Premium Statistic Home Depot: global net sales 2007-2023
• Premium Statistic Wayfair net revenue 2012-2022
• Basic Statistic Williams-Sonoma: global net revenue 2009-2023, by brand
• Premium Statistic JYSK: global revenue FY2014-FY2023

Home Depot: global net sales 2007-2023

Global net sales of the Home Depot from 2007 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Wayfair net revenue 2012-2022

Net revenue of Wayfair worldwide from 2012 to 2022 (in million U.S. dollars)

Williams-Sonoma: global net revenue 2009-2023, by brand

Net revenue of Williams-Sonoma worldwide from 2009 to 2023, by brand (in million U.S. dollars)

JYSK: global revenue FY2014-FY2023

Revenue of JYSK Group from financial year 2014/15 to 2022/23 (in billion Danish kroner)

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IKEA Case Study Report

Case study, 2022.

Abstract or Introduction

Multinational corporations (MNCs) are able to review the world's tax legislation and take advantage of the loopholes and anomalies in the tax legislation of the various nations, thus avoiding the payment of billions of dollars in taxes. Based on the case of IKEA Group, both tax evasion and tax avoidance are unethical when elements such as social inequality, undermining of tax compliance, unfairness in competition between different firms, violation of social contracts between corporations and host communities, and erosion of tax revenues for society are present. IKEA's practices are unethical from a consequentialist ethical standpoint due to the negative effects of their practices on society, as well as from a deontological standpoint due to their failure to respect not only the letter and spirit of the law, but also the rights of communities, competitors, nations, individual taxpayers, and other stakeholders. Tax evasion and avoidance significantly contribute to the undermining of the compliance culture as they undermine the tax system’s integrity, thus leading to weaker compliance. The evaluation of the actions and measures that HMRC apply for tax compliance in light of the ethical issues of tax avoidance and evasion indicates that the approaches would lead to great successes in the reduction of tax avoidance and evasion.

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Ikea Case Study

Introduction.

This is a case study on IKEA. The case study will introduce IKEA, analyze its history, state its mission, and explain what it does and its profitability. It will additionally discuss IKEA operations design, location and layout of stores, delivery and manufacturing process of its products.

The case study will also introduce John Lewis, compare and contrast it with IKEA. It will state the problems facing IKEA and conclusively highlight its operations and sales functions.

IKEA is a private owned company that sells furniture and household items; it draws its market from all over the world. IKEA was started by a 17-year old Swedish named Ingvar Kamprad in 1943. Ingvar Kamprad was born in 1926 in South Sweden.

IKEA History

The history of IKEA is tied to the founder Ingvar Kamprad. Ingvar Kamprad is from Smaland in Sweden. It is said that Smaland does not offer much opportunities but its people are very sharp and skilled.

IKEA is an acronym developed from the initials of the founder’s name, Ingvar Kamprad (I.K), “the first letter of the farm he grew in, Elmtaryd (E) and his village, Agunnaryd (A)” (IKEA, 2009, p. 1). IKEA locations are now owned by INGKA foundation.

Initially, IKEA dealt with products like pens, ladies’ stockings, watches, picture frames and small furniture items. It distributed its wares through the county’s milk van. However, in 1951 IKEA decided to zero in on furniture products only and additionally produced its first catalogue.

IKEA opened its first store in Almhult, Sweden in 1953 and outside Sweden in 1963 (Norway) and Denmark in 1969. IKEA expanded rapidly opening many stores outside Sweden; in 1987 it won the Excellent Swedish Design prize. As time went by the company incorporated children items (IKEA, 2009, p.1).

IKEA Mission and Profitability

IKEA has a big mission, “to offer a wide range of home furnishing items of good design and function, excellent quality and durability, at prices affordable to the majority” (IKEA, 1994, p.1). The INGKA foundation which owns IKEA is a Dutch charitable organization controlled by Kamprad family and thus IKEA profit is non-taxable. IKEA annual revenues total to US$28.8 billion, making it the world’s largest furniture manufacturer.

IKEA Delivery and Manufacturing Process

IKEA has a labor force of highly qualified staff of 130,000 people around the world. IKEA products are manufactured in a responsible way and follow the normal supply chain. The designing is undertaken in Sweden but the manufacturing process is carried elsewhere where expenses are minimal.

The IKEA furniture is assembled by the buyers saving on expenses. IKEA products include furniture and accessories for kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, and children rooms. Annually, the company enjoys a demand of 410 million shoppers.

IKEA Operations Design

The naming of IKEA store-brand products is a complex system that can amaze anybody. They are named by a single word which in most cases originates from Sweden. Many IKEA products are divided into special categories and named accordingly.

This is referred to as the Nordic naming which was developed by IKEA in conjunction with Colin Edwards a renowned international naming expert, “For example, all carpets are named after Danish locations, while chairs and desks are given men’s names” (Ellis, 2011, p. 1).

However, the Nordic naming has in many instances lead to some interesting and conflicting marketing issues in countries where words may have different meanings from what they were intended. In such a case, renaming has always been the only option.

The IKEA vision is to make people comfortable: “IKEA actualizes this by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices comfortable to a common man” (Ellis, 2011, p. 1).

However, in offering low prices, IKEA does not compromise its principle of sustaining its business and hence sells at breakeven price. The supply technique of IKEA is amazing in that it is beneficial to the customers and the environment: the reduction of trucks in the supply chain has lowered carbon dioxide emissions.

IKEA restaurants offer only reusable plates, spoons, knives e.t.c; Customers all over the world have responded positively to IKEA’s strategy as justified by IKEA’s continued rising turnover (IKEA, 2009, p.1).

Layout of IKEA Stores

The general layout of an IKEA store includes one or more showroom floors for large pieces of furniture and various room sets. IKEA stores in most cases are housed in a building with dominantly a blue color. Many IKEA stores are situated outside the city centers to enhance their accessibility and reduce the cost of establishment. However, the format of the stores conveniently changes with government conditions.

The IKEA showrooms are located upstairs. They also have minor departments, such as lighting and textiles, which are well distributed throughout the major departments. The layout of the shop is made in such a way that all that customers have a view the products on sale before proceeding to the payment section (Chopra, 2009, p.1).

Most IKEA stores are open full time and replenish their products at night. Majority of IKEA stores offer a counter where all damaged, returned and formerly showcased goods are displayed before being sold.

IKEA restaurants also have unique features in that instead of providing chain restaurant outlets, the IKEA markets its own food in counter-service eating areas. This food is usually extremely affordable in line with its vision. IKEA restaurants open earlier than the stores. Many stores also have a Swedish- made food, Swedish-style groceries and Scandinavian cookies.

IKEA had more than 300 stores in 35 countries by 2008: Some of the stores in Europe are located in Belgium (1984), Czech Republic, Germany (1974), Denmark (1969), Spain (1981), Greece, France (1981), Iceland, Ireland, Italy (1989), Cyprus, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway (1963), Austria, Russia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland (1973), Slovakia, Finland, Sweden (1953), Turkey, United Kingdom (1987).

Some of the stores in North America and Caribbean are located in Canada (1976), United States (1987), and Dominican Republic. Stores in Middle East are located in Kuwait, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. Stores in Asia/Pacific are located in Australia, China, Hong Kong (1975), Japan (1974), Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore (1978).

IKEA has opened more stores in the 21 st century and has planned to open its first shopping centre in Croatia in 2012 and the Winnipeg store by 2013 in Canada (Staff Writer, 2008, p.1). Notable is the fact that Germany has the most locations, with 43 stores throughout the country, while the United States comes close behind with 34 locations. IKEA is headquartered in Delft, Netherlands (Finchy, 2010, p.1).

IKEA dominance in the market has conspicuously been catalyzed by a variety of reasons, which include: price, style, products range, high class customer service, 24 hour service and money for value aspects which have boosted its market share.

Due to the affordability of IKEA products to poor college students, the company has become a popular culture reference in America. Several books have been written and songs composed in praise and reference to the company. The Company has however not registered much success in developing countries.

John Lewis is an internationally recognized chain of departmental stores operating in Great Britain. The earliest John Lewis store was launched in 1864. This store is situated along Oxford Street, London. It is owned by the John Lewis Partnership and deals with a wide range of furniture, office equipment, furnishing textiles, linens, china wares, cleaning materials, electrical gadgets, and party stationery.

John Lewis collection, John Lewis men, and John Lewis women have also been introduced. John Lewis restaurants have also been in operation. Lewis Partnership which owns John Lewis stores was founded by John Lewis son, John Spedan Lewis in 1920 (John Lewis Partnership, 2011, p.1).

The partnership is governed by its constitution and company principles. From a humble beginning as a drapery store the store has expanded immensely. John Lewis stores continued to expand with acquisition of more stores like Jessop’s in Nottingham in 1933, Selfridge Provincial stores in 1944 and Herbert Parkinson in 1953.

All acquired stores were rebranded to John Lewis though Oxford Street shop remains as the main branch in the Partnership.

To date, John Lewis Partnership has 76,500 permanent staff /partners and own 35 John Lewis shops in United Kingdom, a production unit, 267 Waltrose supermarkets, an online and catalogue business, and a farm. John Lewis Partnership is a successful and visionary mode of business whose first priority is guarding partner’s interests.

The partnership has a gross turnover of over 8.2 billion pounds where the benefits and profits are shared by the partners. John Lewis operations are multi channeled, it has a ‘home’ format initiative and its Waitrose supermarkets are very convenient.

John Lewis Partnership success was rewarded in 2011 when they won the, “Retailer of the Year award” at the Oracle Retail week Awards (People and Partners, 2011, p. 1). More than 40 million customers shop at John Lewis annually.

Comparing IKEA and John Lewis

Both IKEA and John Lewis are internationally recognized stores that transact their businesses in various countries all over the world. This is evident from the many stores they have which are located in different parts of the world. Both IKEA and John Lewis are non-governmental hence privately owned: IKEA owned by INGKA foundation while John Lewis is owned by John Lewis Partnership.

Additionally, both companies deal with furniture products, furnishings and catalogue business. Of concern is that both companies have grown tremendously over the years enjoying high demands for their products, recording massive sales turnovers and getting international recognition: IKEA won the Excellent Swedish Design prize in 1987, while John Lewis won the Retailer of the Year award in 2011.

Both companies are more dominant in the countries where they were found; IKEA is dominant in Sweden while John Lewis is dominant in UK. Both companies have also started engaging in restaurants in the recent years.

Differences between IKEA and John Lewis Companies

IKEA is solely owned by INGKA foundation while John Lewis is owned by a group of people called the John Lewis partnership. This leads to differences in management. IKEA has its background in Sweden while John Lewis has its background in the UK. IKEA annual profit is non-taxable while that of JOHN LEWIS is taxable.

This is because IKEA is owned by a charitable organization, INGKA which enjoys a tax exemption while John Lewis is owned by John Lewis Partnership which does not enjoy tax exemption.

While IKEA designs and manufactures its furniture products, John Lewis does not manufacture but only sells the ready made furniture. IKEA has a policy of building its own stores in matters of expanding its business while John Lewis acquires already built stores for expanding its business.

IKEA workers are just employees while all John Lewis workers are partners of the company and as such the workers of IKEA and those of John Lewis have different working terms. While IKEA was named among the 100 Best Companies for working women, John Lewis had harsh working conditions for the women in earlier times (Memory Store, 2011, p.1).

While IKEA mostly extends its profits to charity, profits and benefits of John Lewis are shared among the partners. IKEA has developed an environment friendly policy while John Lewis has not.

IKEA uses the Nordic naming method to name its furniture products but John Lewis uses the general method of naming since they do not manufacture products. Acquired stores by John Lewis preserved their names until recently while stores owned by IKEA bore its name from the start.

IKEA Problems

Despite its resounding success and dominance in the world of furniture, IKEA has faced a lot of challenges and problems in its operations and existence. IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad was involved in the pro-Nazi New Swedish Movement a situation which created a lot of tension when IKEA was opening stores in Israel.

He later regretted his involvement terming it as the greatest mistake in his life. IKEA received a lot of criticism when Canadians realized that IKEA charged twice the price in goods in Canadian stores compared to those in American stores. IKEA was also accused of imperialism in regard to the naming of its products. IKEA engaged in worker mistreatment at one time.

Operations and Sales Function

Operations are all the activities involved in running an enterprise with an aim of producing value to customers. IKEA has a workforce of 130,000 people around the world serving its growing number of esteemed shoppers. The customers have in a long time appreciated this service. John Lewis has a workforce of 76,500 permanent staff that similarly serves the company customers.

The main function of sales is to feel the needs and satisfy the wants of customers. A sales department will strive to attract and retain customers: “IKEA products are based on a functional approach to design and they are also attractive, practical and easy to use” (IKEA, 2009, p.1). The products are simple and offer full customer satisfaction. John Lewis products are pretty and make household chores easier and quicker to do.

The appliances are modern hence convenient to use. The washing machines make cleaning easy and improve the sanitation conditions. Hence, from their sales turnover IKEA and John Lewis products attract and retain customers. This is due to the satisfaction that they derive from their products.

It is evident from statistics derived from the case study that IKEA and John Lewis companies have made great impact in the business world. They have brought furniture and other products close to the consumers through their well distributed stores located all over the world.

They have given consumers a variety and timely satisfaction from their wide-range of products that are easily accessible. The existence of the two companies dealing with almost the same products, and subsequent dominance in different countries demonstrates fair market competition.

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Staff Writer 2008, What is IKEA anyway?, Manitoba press council. Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, December 4). Ikea. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ikea-case-study/

"Ikea." IvyPanda , 4 Dec. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/ikea-case-study/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Ikea'. 4 December.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Ikea." December 4, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ikea-case-study/.

1. IvyPanda . "Ikea." December 4, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ikea-case-study/.

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Ikea Trade Policy Case Study 2022

Read the IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor case study and analyze the company's response to child labor in its supply chain.

Added on   2022-10-18

   Added on  2022-10-18

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