IKEA is looking to grow its market share in India, the furniture giant’s fastest-growing market, and will launch smaller, more compact stores that are a major departure from its traditional large-format stores.
It comes after the Economic Times reports that IKEA’s expansion strategy is focused on reaching smaller cities and diverse urban areas (with new stores as small as 10,000 square feet), making its offerings more accessible to a broader range of Indian consumers.
“We are trying to integrate various aspects and offer different experiences across different formats… From a size point of view, this is a huge benefit for us in India as well, where we will be more accessible to many people,” according to Pooja Grover, IKEA India’s Country Expansion Manager, who said the smaller stores will provide “a lot of accessibility” for customers.
While IKEA has to date concentrated on key metropolitan markets—including Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi—the new strategy will see it expand into Tier 2 cities: “We are focusing on six core markets: Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, and Pune. But we are also exploring Tier II cities for future growth,” Grover said, adding that IKEA is meeting with developers to ramp up the small-format store model.
Last month, Wood Central reported that IKEA—the world’s third largest consumer of timber and responsible for 1% of the world’s lumber demand—relied on overseas imports for 90% of its furniture sold in the USA. More than 70% of its European products came from European forests, and 80% of Chinese products were manufactured in China.
- To learn more about the impact of Trump’s tariff strategy on IKEA’s global supply chain for furniture products, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
