Case Study of IKEA, the Largest Furniture Retailer in Sweden

IKEA is a world famous furnishing company known for selling Scandinavian-style furniture and other home-based goods. The company has over 230 stores, with operations carried out in over 42 countries with well over 70 000 employees. The stores themselves can occupy 410 million shoppers per year. It is a Swedish based company built on the idea of offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products such low prices, that a majority of people will be able to afford them. The IKEA group is currently solely owned by the INGKA Foundation through a holding company, unlisted on any stock exchange.

IKEA is an abbreviation of Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd. The initials come from the name of the founder, the farm where he grew up and his home parish. The firm has grown rapidly since it was founded in 1948. From a very young age, Kamprad started selling furniture and he always kept his low costs - so low that other furniture stores pressured the National Association of Furniture Dealers in Sweden to stop providing Kamprad with products. The first store of IKEA was opened in Almhult, Sweden. The next stores are in

IKEA is a multinational group founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943. A production oriented firm in the retail industry, IKEA designs and sells a range of functional and durable, self-assembled ‘flat-pack’ furniture, appliances and home décor at low prices (Rodionova, Z. 2017). IKEA originated in Sweden and has 370 stores in 47 countries, mainly in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia (IKEA 2014).

IKEA is one of the largest multinational companies in the world dealing with several products. The company sells and designs furniture appliances and home accessories at an affordable price. Ikea has over three hundred stores worldwide enjoying the good name it has created for itself. While they are one of the most profitable furniture companies in the world there are significant challenges and threats that have been overcome and are still needed to be tackled.

Ikea was successful in entering the furniture retail market in Sweden because it capitalized on good timing and original ideas. At the time of Ikeas initial phases, furniture prices in Sweden rose 41% faster than other household goods between 1935 and 1946. Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of Ikea Saw this as a great opportunity to offer quality furniture at a much lower price than other retailers, that the majority of people can actually afford. Ikea was also able to overcome adversity through creativity in business processes. When initially traditional retailers fought against Ikea’s ideas and banned them from selling at the Stockholm Trade Fair, the took orders or got names of customers in order to sell to them after the event. On another occasion, they overcame trouble with the retail cartel by establishing manufacturing sources in Poland instead of Sweden. This actually resulted in lower costs for Ikea and therefore allowed them to sell products at even lower prices than before. They also differentiated themselves from other companies not only through price but also through store design and location. Instead of locating in downtown hubs, Ikea set up its stores in areas with a lot of land to provide ample parking space which went hand in hand with their concept of cash-and-carry retailing. Furthermore, within the stores established many basic practices, such as wide

In this business report on the global retail business IKEA, it will cover the nature of business, influences on operations, operation processes, operation strategies and how the business can sustain competitive advantage. IKEA was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad in Älmhult, Sweden. The business established after and with the money his father awarded him for succeeding in his studies, Kamprad sustained a cash inflow by selling pens, wallets, watches, picture frames, table runners, jewellery and nylon stockings at reduced prices to customers. Although, later on in 1958, IKEA was introduced as a leader of Swedish Furniture Company as they started to produce local furniture by the Swedish local manufacturers, which gained positive attention from their customers. Eventually, developing flat packs of furniture for storage and self assembly, making their signature style of IKEA and turning the small business into a global sensation.

The stores have restaurant, childcare facilities and plenty of parking. Customers can drop off their kids at the playroom and have delicious meal when they are tired. All of these not only provide customer with a comfortable shopping environment but also let them make an ‘IKEA trip’ and enjoy the fun of buying. Besides, IKEA’s distinctive show rooms help creating differentiation. Products are strategically placed in different small spaces like rooms which allow customers imaging this furniture in their own home. This makes everything looks more attractive.

IKEA stayed in Russia during their economic downturn gaining respect from the Russian public and government. To say competitive IKEA has tried to lower cost without losing quality in their

"PESTEL is an important tool used for market and environmental analysis and to support strategic decision-making" (Narayanan and Fahey, 1986). The purpose of this research is to present IKEA influences through PESTEL analysis.

IKEA is the world’s largest furniture retailer of ‘knock down’ furniture with 300 stores in more than 35 countries. It was founded by Ingvar Kamprad of southern Sweden whose main innovative idea was ‘to offer home furnishing products of good function and design at prices much lower than competitors by using simple cost-cutting solutions that did not affect quality of products so that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. ( www.ikea.com). He used every opportunity to reduce costs without compromising on ideas and quality.

In PEST analysis, we will look into what will be affect by the business environment. It includes political environment, economical environment, social environment and technological environment.

In august 2008, IKEA had total 253 stores where 560 million people visited. Here the total sales became 23 billion Euros. Considering 20% sales profit here IKEA’s average customer per store and cost per store are given below:

IKEA is a multinational company that designs and sells ready to assemble furniture, home accessories and appliances. IKEA was founded by a 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden in 1943. The Company’s name is an acronym that consist the initials of Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd (his farm) and Agunnaryd (his hometown). In January, 2008 IKEA was listed as the world’s largest furniture retailer. Based upon the march, 2016 stats IKEA owns and operates 384 stores in 48 countries.

IKEA was founded in Sweden by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943. IKEA has been established around the world in 26 different countries. Within these countries IKEA has a total of 303 stores. This business is effective in adapting to change through the use of the four key business functions; operations, finance, marketing, and human resources.

In 1974, Japan had attempted to establish its business in Japan through a joint venture with a Japanese company. Ikea then withdrew from Japan market in 1986 due to its long term stagnant sales. About two decades later, having the assistance of Japan External Trade Organization, Ikea