Ikea in the Usa

Ikea in the USA

Entered market in 1985. Limited success - led to more expansion in 1987. Planning for more outlets came from some compromises - namely Europe's standardised product strategy - had to be adapted for the US. (Ikea adapted 1/5 of the product range, 45% produced locally in the US). Some service adaptations were also made because American customers hate standing in lines, love next-day delivery, etc.

For its marketing strategy , Ikea uses diferent means but its more efficient instrument is the catalog. In fact,published in the entire world and translated into more 40 languages, the Ikea catalog is present in a lot of homes . It is its catalog which allows it to be known

around the world.

When a customer enters a Ikea store, he can not go out without having seen

all the furnitures availables in Ikea. In fact, Ikea stores are big (30 000 m² in

average) and the customer is obliged to visit the 2 floors of the store before

going out. It is impossible to go directly to the exit.

It is a marketing strategy which incites customers to buy. Indeed, thanks to

this system, customers often buy more furnitures that they don't need and

Ikea can increase their benefits. It incites people to buy.

A new and original strategy

In 1994, Ikea launched a T.V advertising which showed a gay couple buying furnitures in a Ikea shop. Thanks to this advertisement, Ikea became the first company which explicitly targeted homosexual customers

.

However, this strategy was not realized at random. The leading goal of this TV. advertising was not to attract directly homosexuals. Indeed, according to specialists of consumption tendencies, companies want to target homosexual people because when they adopt a new product, that attract also other customers. Actually, for a lot of companies, homosexual people appear like a good means to test new products.

Vision and strategy

The Ikea vision is "to create a better everyday life for the many people". Ikea wants to...