Ike Ikea, An Entrepreneur

The well-known ‘build-it-yourself’ product design makes them progressive and makes them running ahead of the competition. IKEA is the only big brand in a category further not present in global markets, there are no real competitors operating in the same category. In 2013 775 million customers visited IKEA in 2013, and its website hosted 1.2 billion visits (4). Due to the ‘build-it-yourself’ product design IKEA is able to provide their customers with high quality and low cost products, even the customers with limited income and limited living space

Low prices are one of the cornerstones of the IKEA concept which attrack their customers to but their products. This low price strategy is coupled with

The services and products offered by IKEA provide value to its customers in various ways. For one, the products and services are very affordable. The products and services are not priced highly and therefore, the average customer can enjoy them. At the same time, the products are of high quality. From IKEA’s slogan “low prices but not at any price”, it is clear that the company prices its products lowly but that does not mean that the quality is compromised. IKEA satisfying its customer’s needs through providing them value for their money as they provide quality products that will last for a long time, and at affordable costs. The fact that the company has set the minimum acceptable standards for its wood, implies that it is also keen on quality and on the environmental impact of its action of making furniture ( Edvardsson, Enquist & Hay, 2006).

In 1951, to reduce product returns, he opened a display store in nearby Älmhult village to allow customers to inspect products before buying. It was an immediate success, with customers traveling seven hours from the capital Stockholm by train to visit. Based on the store’s success, IKEA stopped accepting mail orders. Later Kamprad reflected, “The basis of the modern IKEA concept was created [at this time] and in principle it still applies. First and foremost, we use a catalog to tempt people to visit an exhibition, which today is our store. . . . Then, catalog in hand, customers can see simple interiors for themselves, touch the furniture they want to buy and then write out an order.”2 As Kamprad developed and refined his furniture retailing business model he became increasingly frustrated with the way a tightly knit cartel of furniture manufacturers controlled the Swedish industry to keep prices high. He began to view the situation not just as a business opportunity but also as an unacceptable social problem that he wanted to correct. Foreshadowing a vision for IKEA that would later be articulated as “creating a better life for the many people,” he wrote: “A disproportionately large part of all resources is used to satisfy a small part of the population. . . . IKEA’s aim is to change this situation. We shall offer a wide range of home furnishing items of good design and function at prices so low that the majority of

IKEA is using a different operation strategy from their competitors. The operation of IKEA has to cope with large volume because their products are highly repeatability and specialised. The variety of products the operation needs to create is low to medium as they offer

IKEA has marketed its products well and has dealt with all the problems easily. But there have been some constraints that came in the way of IKEA and alternative strategies have to be developed for them. These strategies are as follows:

The size of IKEA’s stores is also an important feature. With their large centralised combined stores and warehouses IKEA can take advantage of economies of scale. This leads to lower costs in every part of their supply chain (e.g. facility costs, inventory costs, transport, procurement). From the IKEA concept and their supply chain strategy they have managed to reduce their prices to a minimum.

IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready to assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer. Founded in 1943 by 17 year old Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden, the company is named as an acronym comprising the initials of the founder's name (Ingvar Kamprad), the farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd), and his home parish. IKEA has 300 home furnishing superstores in 35 Countries and was visited by some 583 million shoppers. IKEA’s low priced elegantly designed merchandise displayed in large warehouse stores, generated sales of $21.2 billion in 2008, up from 4.4 billion in 1994. The fledgling company sold fish,

Since its 1943 establishing in Sweden by Ingvar Kamprad at 17 years old years, IKEA has offered home furniture and frill of good outline and capacity at low costs so most of the general population can manage the cost of them. IKEA 's vision is to: "Make a superior regular life for the numerous individuals" Its business thought is "To offer an extensive variety of all-around outlined, practical home outfitting items at costs so low that whatever number individuals as could be expected under the circumstances will have the capacity to bear the cost of them"(IKEA 2004)

It is by exercising various strategies to reduce its prices even more IKEA was able to reach this global position: the company controls every stage of the product design to sale in order to optimize customer satisfaction. It offers them quality products at very low prices.

1. Design- IKEA designers work in exactly the opposite way from their competitors. They design their products in such a way so that they can keep the prices low. IKEA designers design every product starting with a functional need and then decide on price. With the help of their vast knowledge in innovation and low-cost manufacturing processes through a large network of suppliers, they design the final product which can fulfill consumer’s functional needs. Large volumes are purchased to push prices down even further by distributing the R&D cost. Most IKEA products are designed in such a way so that they can transport in flat packs and assembled at the customer's

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

It all started in 1943, when Ingvar Kamprad opened his first commercial business in the name of IKEA, which derives from his initials and of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the names of his family farm and the parish he grew up in. At first, it was just a “mail-order business selling pencils, postcards, and other merchandise” (“Milestones”). The company first introduced furniture as a complement to the general merchandise in 1948, and it was an immediate success. As a result, the company “started exploring innovating solutions such as furniture design, self-assembly, and advertising” (“Milestones”).

Ikea is a great company that starts from humble beginnings and has made an impact upon the world for almost a century. Ikea is a Swedish company that specializes in selling furniture and other housing products across a market of over 40 countries (IKEA history - how it all began, n.d.). The founder of the Swedish company was Ingvar Kamprad. Kamprad as a child would sell matches, pencils, and flower seeds to the people living around him. Even at a young age, it was evident that the young Kamprad was destined to become a great businessman. In the 1940’s, when Kamprad was just 17 years old, he founded Ikea and was able to create his new business through the money that was awarded to him by his father. What is interesting about Ikea’s name is that Kamprad combined his first two initials of his name with the first initials of the village and farm he grew up in in order to come up with the name, Ikea.

THE IKEA STRATEGY AND price PROPOSITION IKEA pursued a method of providing inexpensive, well-designed article of furniture to the plenty through a singular searching expertise. IKEA’s saying, “Low worth with that means,” IKEA giving design based on how ultimate design Beautiful, smartly designed product sustainability and rapid prototyping that customer failed feel low cost.. From their materials sourcing strategy that focuses on finding low-cost materials from around the