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Tag: Ingka Group

  • Ikea Installs Miniature Home Exhibits Across Melbourne, Beijing and Chengdu

    Ikea Installs Miniature Home Exhibits Across Melbourne, Beijing and Chengdu

    Ikea has installed miniature home displays across stores in Melbourne, Beijing and Chengdu to promote compact, affordable living.

    Stockholm artist Christopher Nordstrom built the three displays at a one-to-12 scale. They serve as the Swedish retailer’s latest visual merchandising test in the Asia-Pacific region.

    Scale Models for Compact Urban Spaces

    Each model tailors its interior details to local culture. In Melbourne, the display features a bookcase filled with novels, art prints and nods to local sports.

    Storage and decluttering for smaller homes sit at the centre of the push. “When you build in miniature, you cannot include everything,” Nordstrom said. “Every object has to earn its place.”

    Ingka Group, Ikea’s primary global operator, is steering marketing funds toward entry-level home organisation. Urban shoppers face increasingly tight quarters across major metro markets.

    Shifting Formats in Asia-Pacific

    This rollout ties into broader footprint adjustments across the region. Ikea continues to balance compact city-centre locations against traditional suburban big-box warehouses.

    Regional home furnishing chains are leaning on interactive features to lift foot traffic and basket sizes. Discretionary spending has seen several volatile quarters.

    Next, Ingka Group will track customer engagement around the three micro-exhibits across its Australian and Chinese locations.

  • Ikea’s Ingka Group Invests In Re-mall, Aiming To Amplify Global Plastic Recycling Efforts

    Ikea’s Ingka Group Invests In Re-mall, Aiming To Amplify Global Plastic Recycling Efforts

    Ingka Group, the largest retail operator for Ikea, has invested in recycling expert Re-mall, reinforcing its commitment to reducing waste and enhancing the supply of recycled materials. The specifics of this investment have not been publicized.

    A New Alliance for Sustainable Solutions

    Re-mall, a recycling specialist with headquarters in Shanghai, specializes in the production of high-quality post-consumer recycled polypropylene. The company stands out as one of the few global providers that can produce transparent pellets from post-consumer food packaging waste on a large scale.

    These recycled materials are utilized in a wide variety of products, such as storage containers, tableware, toys, cosmetic packaging, and woven fabrics. Re-mall supplies these materials to a multitude of renowned corporations.

    Lukas Visser, the head of circular investments at Ingka Group, spoke on the collaboration with Re-mall: “Re-mall’s well-established supplier network and their partnerships with top Chinese food delivery service providers are already creating significant impact on the local recycling market on a large scale. By investing in Re-mall, our aim is to magnify this effect to help tackle the worldwide issue of plastic waste and aid in the transition to a circular economy.”

    Impact of the Investment

    Re-mall runs a production facility in the Jiangxi province. The strategic location of this facility allows access to plastic waste sources from major cities like Guangzhou and Shanghai, located in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta economic zones.

    The company has stated that Ingka Group’s investment will bolster its recycling capabilities and aid in the development of new products.

    Zhu Kuan, the CEO of Re-mall, expressed his enthusiasm about the new collaboration: “We are delighted to have Ingka Investments as a strategic partner in our mission to expedite the circular economy in the plastics sector. This partnership is a significant step forward in our journey to scale sustainable solutions on a global level. Together, our goal is to transform plastic waste into valuable resources, contributing to a cleaner planet and a more responsible future.”

    Ingka Group runs Ikea retail stores in 31 markets, which equates to approximately 90% of Ikea’s worldwide retail sales.

    Questions & Answers

    What does Re-mall specialize in?
    Re-mall specializes in the production of high-quality post-consumer recycled polypropylene. They are also one of the few global providers that can produce transparent pellets from post-consumer food packaging waste on a large scale.

    What impact will Ingka Group’s investment have on Re-mall?
    The investment by Ingka Group will enhance Re-mall’s recycling capabilities and assist in the development of new products.

    What is the mission of Re-mall and Ingka Group’s partnership?
    The partnership between Re-mall and Ingka Group aims to accelerate the circular economy in the plastics sector, transforming plastic waste into valuable resources, and contributing to a cleaner and more responsible future.

  • Ikea services foray boosts loyalty and sales

    Ikea services foray boosts loyalty and sales

    Ikea is turning to services to increase turnover and boost engagement with customers. Moreover, partnering with specialist companies in such areas as delivery and assembly allow it to focus on product design and sales, leaving post-checkout experiences in the hands of specialists, rather than committing its own staff and training resources. An example of the new Ikea services initiative is US odd-jobs app TaskRabbit, which Ikea bought in late 2017. Ikea recommends the service to customers who lack the time or patience to assemble their own kitset furniture products.

    Ikea reports that the number of jobs handled by TaskRabbit staff since it acquired the business had doubled and 10 per cent of the jobs undertaken are now assembling kitset furniture – five times the pre-purchase rate.

    Since the acquisition, TaskRabbit has expanded coverage to all 48 US cities with an Ikea store, launched in Toronto, Canada, and expanded in the UK beyond London.

    In Hong Kong, where few customers own cars, Ikea now offers both a delivery and assembly service with fixed fees according to location. Previously, it partnered with an app-based third party contractor.

    In Australia, Ikea has partnered with Airtasker and in India with UrbanClap, to offer assembly services.

    Reuters describes the Ikea services strategy as “a major strategic shift that it has been forced to adopt to stay in the game as waves of new competitors in an increasingly online world erode its dominance”.

    TaskRabbit’s quick success is prompting Ikea in the US to consider expanding services offered through Ikea, to include such tasks as interior design and furniture repair which would in turn potentially boost sales from stores.

    Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group, which owns most US Ikea stores, says TaskRabbit’s customer data could also help Ikea come up with new ideas for furniture.

    “As this community grows, it’s not only about fixing one or two things but actually to add professionalism in interior decoration, into ‘life at home’ practicalities,” Brodin said in an interview.

    “TaskRabbit is a super interesting business case because it is scalable, not only geographically but also into services at home.”

    GlobalData Retail MD Neil Saunders says a services foray could help Ikea boost its market penetration in the US, which is currently just 2 per cent. Despite the low market share, the US represents Ikea’s second-largest international market behind Germany, where it enjoys as 12 per cent share. Rivals like Walmart and Wayfair in the US have started offering assembly through TaskRabbit’s rival app Handy.

    Brodin wants TaskRabbit to expand into more countries.

    “We are convinced this is a way to access new customers in our cities. The convenience customer today has so many more choices, and they are used to getting a quick answer.”

  • IKEA announces new retail direction globally; to hire aggressively in India

    IKEA announces new retail direction globally; to hire aggressively in India

    Ingka Group (Ingka Holding B.V and its controlled entities) is accelerating its transformation, stepping up investments in new and existing IKEA stores and fulfilment centres, developing city centre formats and focusing on its e-commerce platform, to better meet the needs of its customers and be more convenient and affordable to many more people.

    Building on many years of solid growth and as part of a transformation, Ingka Group is assessing all parts of the organisation and is simplifying to enable a greater focus on adding value to its customers. As a result, in the coming 2 years 11,500 new jobs will be created globally, through opening around 30 new IKEA touchpoints, investments in its fulfilment network and in digital capabilities. At the same time 7,500 jobs may become redundant globally, out of the current 160,000 jobs, mainly focusing on global functions and offices in 30 markets.

    Jesper Brodin, Chief Executive Officer, Ingka Group says: “We continue to grow and perform strongly. At the same time, we recognise that the retail landscape is transforming at a scale and pace we’ve never seen before. As customer behaviours change rapidly, we are investing and developing our business to meet their needs in better and newer ways. We will put greater emphasis on making our existing stores even better and taking the opportunity to renew and reinvent our business in a way that is inspired by our history, culture and values. Together these elements guide our work and build our inclusive, open and honest culture, and we’re going to support our co-workers in the best possible way throughout this change.”

    To support the biggest transformation in the history of the Ingka Group, IKEA India has already adopted its expansion approach. Through its expansion in India, it will create many more direct and indirect jobs. The number of co-workers is expected to grow from the current strength of 1,500 co-workers to over 15,000 co-workers in the future, out of which 50 percent will be women. Besides jobs in the stores and new city centres, the company will also create a lot of new roles in areas such as digital, data analytics, diversified fulfilment networks and personalisation. Certain existing roles will change and the company confirmed that all its co-workers will get to explore new opportunities in the new organisation. 3,000 new jobs are expected to be created in the next two years in line with its growth plans and transformation.

    Peter Betzel, Chief Executive Officer, IKEA India says, “We are in an exciting time at IKEA India. We have recently embarked on our retail journey here and have the unique opportunity to implement our new retail direction from the beginning itself. The India organisation will align with the new global structure and competencies to build a future ready organisation in terms of skill sets. IKEA India will hire many more people, both in terms of direct and indirect employment, and as we start our digitisation journey, we will add many more co-workers with different skill sets, while also creating avenues for our existing co-workers to grow in many new roles.”

    IKEA India, part of the Ingka group and one of its most recent retail markets is as one of its most important long term markets. It is on track to invest Euros 1.5 billion and aims to be present in many Indian cities in the coming years. Mumbai will be the first megacity in India to offer the full in India including city centre formats, large stores and a strong digital offering next year. IKEA intends to reach 200 million Indians in the coming three years through different channels. Globally in Ingka’s top 30 mega city strategies, three Indian cities – Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi are included which reinforces IKEA’s belief in the potential of India.

    In August 2018, it opened its first India store in Hyderabad and will enter Mumbai next with online and stores.

    IKEA has been present in India with IKEA Purchasing and IKEA Foundation businesses. The purchasing organisation has been sourcing from India for close to 35 years for its global stores. Currently it has 55+ suppliers with 45,000 direct employees and 400,000 people in the extended supply chain. The long term goal is to maximise local sourcing to increase affordability and also tap into the many sustainable raw material India has to offer to create more sustainable products in its range. It also works with 1500 women artisans through two social entrepreneurs, one of who is based in Karnataka.

    IKEA Foundation, its philanthropic arm has been working with the communities for 18 years. It has partnered with public and private organisations for the DISHA skill development program to empower one million marginalised Indian women to join the retail workforce. The IKEA Hyderabad store that recently opened has employed around 100 women from this program.

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