IKEA has joked about developing an (almost) 2-kilometre-long store complete with a travellator. The ‘blue box’, located at an undisclosed location, is being redesigned to address concerns that shoppers are getting lost in stores.
“With the rise of digital maps, GPS and the very real fact that people barely look up from their phone screens anymore, we’re finding that people don’t seem to have navigation skills that they used to,” said Togla Öncü, Head of Retail for IKEA.
“So, our solution is to build a store that is impossible to get lost in.”
Tolga Öncü, Ingka Retail Manager (COO) at IKEA Retail (Ingka Group)
IKEA jokes that the new store will have a single floor, with customers entering at one end and being directed to walk straight ahead. The food hall will move to the centre of the store (instead of the entry), with visitors passing through showrooms, followed by the marketplace, the self-service furniture area, and checkouts.
And despite the changes, Öncü jokes IKEA “does not want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We still want it to be a recognisable IKEA experience.”
Jokes aside IKEA last year cut prices on thousands of products
Last yewt Wood Central reported last year that IKEA—the world’s third-largest consumer of wood and wood-based products—cut prices on thousands of products across more than 350 “blue box stores” worldwide as the cost-of-living crisis, sky-high inflation, and interest rates decimate retail spending.
At the time, Öncü stressed that the price cuts were “not a promotion but a promise” before adding that “our founder (Feodor Ingvar Kamprad) was obsessed with supporting people with all kinds of wallets.”
As it stands, IKEA is the undisputed power player in the global furniture market, with more than 11% of furniture sold coming from retail outlets and using 1% of global lumber. In 2023, IKEA’s parent company, Ingka Group, set aside more than $1 billion to absorb material price rises. However, this predated the Gaza Conflict, which has caused companies to ramp up prices on imports after global shipping had to redirect cargo around the Cape of Good Hope.
“That allows Ikea to operate ‘against the flow’ and consider further rounds of price reductions,” Öncü said: “Historically, we’ve always lowered prices. I look forward to next year (2025) and the years to come to continue finding ways to lower operation costs…and not necessarily focus on our profit to be higher every year.”
- To learn more about IKEA, including it’s new blue box store in New Zealand – which will open later this year – click here for more information.
