The Background Of IKEA

The rapidly growth in sales of IKEA in its own country thanks to its innovative new concept in furniture and its reinforcement with polish suppliers, during the 1950s and 1960s, gave to IKEA the option to consider in going further of Swedish borders. Thus, in 1963 was opened the first Store in Oslo capital of Norway. This first step was a guideline to continue the expansion process IKEA has started, and helped to strengthen the internal market in Sweden with the opening of the biggest store in Stockholm in 1965, and the second international store in Denmark in 1969.

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

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 was founded in 1943 when Ingvar Kamprad was given the Ikea name by his father. Ikea stands for; Ingvar Kamprad elmtaryd Agunnaryd, the son 's first and last name and the farm and village where he grew up. The first Ikea sold small items such as pencils, table runners and nylon stockings, all for exceptionally affordable prices. Ingvar knew he had found a system that worked, by 1945 he had expanded. Ingvar started advertising in local newspapers and began a do-it-yourself mail order service, where goods were transported by the local milk van to the train stations. In the early 1950 's Ikea published a magazine discovering that customers wanted more, forcing Ikea to innovate. In 1953, the first "hands on" Ikea

The concept of IKEA today with catalogue marketing combined with a showroom where customers could see and touch IKEA products started in the 1950s. This concept indeed attract consumer even though some consumer tends to take picture instead of experiencing and purchase. The company's three distinct features were function, quality, and low price. IKEA turned a capacity problem into a new way of

IKEA's strategy is derived from environmental conditions; the Swedish company's understanding before customers want functional furniture, the attractive and modern design, and affordable, with immediate availability. The furniture has lost its status as a heritage object, to become a universal object of consumption.

Ikea is a multinational group of companies operating on a global scale in the furniture industry, offering a wide range of ready to assemble (Do It Yourself) furniture, appliances, and accessories worldwide. The company is well known and recognized for its modern designs, functionality of their products, quality services, and their eco-friendliness. Within the competitive market, Ikea aims at being better than its competitors in the market, and offers the best standards of services to its customers, as well as a wider range of products for low prices.

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”).

By operating the business in Thailand (foreign market), IKEA adopt the strategy called “Think Global, Act Local” in the sense that IKEA maintains, applies and upholds their core values and cultures in their practices, while learning to adapt and understand the Thai culture and the Thai market in terms of needs, desires and wants of Thai people in general in order to survive and succeed.

Ikea, originating from Sweden was started out by Ingvar Kamprad by first selling daily used items and home accessories in the 1940s, over the years it has now evolved to being an established home furnishing company that “designs and retails its own ready-to-assemble furniture, appliances and home accessories”.

Ikea, the world’s largest home furniture retailing company, was founded by Ingvar Kamprad. He built his business empire through developing a distinct corporate culture. The Ikean

Ready to combined furniture, home accessories and kitchen devices are designed and sold by a multinational gathering which is IKEA. Their central is in the Netharlands. IKEA is known that the world’s biggest furniture company. It is founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943 in Sweden. When Ingvar Kamprad was founded the company, he was 17 years old. In November 2015, his name was listed in Forbes Magazine as the founder of the IKEA and among the ten richest people in the world with more than 40 billion dollars fortune. The company's name is an acronym that comprises of the initials of Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd , and Agunnaryd. Ingvar Kamprad is founder of IKEA. He grew up at the farm which is Elmtaryd. Agunnaryd is his hometown where is in the Southern Western. There are two things what makes special IKEA, are eco-friendly and modernist. Their various types of appliances and furniture are always designed very modern and also their interior design work is frequently connected with an eco-friendly simplicity. Moreover, over the ten years period of worldwide extension, because of the company’s attention to cost control, operational details, and continuous product development, IKEA can lower its

IKEA established itself as the largest furniture retailer in Sweden by the early 1970s by reinventing the wheel of furniture manufacturing at that time. Majority of furniture manufacturers in Sweden produced expensive products with designs that were basic or passed down generation to generation, additionally other manufacturers stores where located in downtown congested areas. IKEA’s strategies which consisted of low cost low priced furniture, brave intricate designs, self-assembly,

In 1943, when IKEA first founded by Ingvar Kampard, it originally sells pens, wallets, picture frames, table runners, watches, jewellery and nylon stockings. After receiving the successful response from customers by selling furniture, the founder saw and grab the opportunity to reinforce its achievement by implementing the radical change during 1951 to 1953 when IKEA’s products transform into home furnishings and also change its way of marketing, from selling through advertisements paper to opening its first furniture showroom because of the external great stress comes from the other competitor. After 3 years of consolidating the new strategy in a relative stable environment, another crisis of supply chains which is also caused by competitors, lead to the revolution of delivery (flat packaging and self-assembly)

The Competition Advantage Strategy of Ikea's product IKEA's success in the retail industry can be attributed to its vast experience in the retail market, product differentiation, and cost leadership.