Market

IKEA case study

SWOT analysis and sustainable

business planning

Page 1: Introduction

IKEA is an internationally known home furnishing

retailer. It has grown rapidly since it was founded in 1943. Today it is the world's largest furniture

retailer, recognised for its Scandinavian style. The majority of IKEA's furniture is flat-pack, ready to be

assembled by the consumer. This allows a reduction in costs and packaging. IKEA carries a range of

9,500 products, including home furniture and accessories. This wide range is available in all IKEA

stores and customers can order much of the range online through IKEA's website. There are 18 stores

in the UK to date, the first of which opened in Warrington in 1987. In July 2009 IKEA opened a store

in Dublin too - its first in Ireland.

IKEA stores include restaurants and cafés serving typical Swedish food. They also have small food

shops selling Swedish groceries, everything from the famous meatballs to jam. Stores are located

worldwide. In August 2008 the IKEA group had 253 stores in 24 countries, with a further 32 stores

owned and run by franchisees. It welcomed a total of 565 million visitors to the stores during the year

and a further 450 million visits were made to the IKEA website. IKEA sales reached 21.2 billion Euros

in 2008 showing an increase of 7%. The biggest sales countries are Germany, USA, France, UK and

Sweden. In 2008 IKEA opened 21 new stores in 11 countries and expects to open around 20 more in

2009 as part of its strategy for growth.

Low prices are one of the cornerstones of the IKEA concept and help to make customers want to buy

from IKEA. This low price strategy is coupled with a wide range of well designed, functional products.

IKEA's products cater for every lifestyle and life stage of its customers, who come from all age groups

and types of households. This is vital in times when the retail sector is depressed, as it increases

IKEA's potential market.

Since it was founded IKEA has always had concern...