Ikea Plans To Open Smaller Stores Across Markets
Ikea currently does not have specific timelines for the upcoming stores as of now.
Swedish home furnishing retailer Ikea has launched a plan and order point in Bengaluru, its first such store in India.
The retailer, in a bid to further expand in the country, aims to open more smaller stores across its market areas of Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Pune.
PaOPs are smaller stores dedicated to kitchen, bedroom and living room planning along with home furnishing advice and expertise to help design spaces. The PaOP in Bengaluru is located at the Essensai 067 Experience Centre on Whitefield-Hoskote Road, East Bengaluru, and spans 740 sqm. This new format serves as a dedicated customer meeting point.
"Our aim has been to be affordable, sustainable and accessible," Susanne Pulverer, chief executive officer of Ikea India, told NDTV Profit. "One flagship store in a big city isn't enough and we need more meeting points."
"With this initiative, we want to move closer to the customers and are currently testing in Bengaluru. There will be many more of these going forward," Pulverer said,
In the PaOP stores, customers begin by booking a free appointment, where Ikea specialists help plan their room or entire home, from layouts to product selections. Once the design is finalised, orders can be placed on-site, with options for home delivery, click and collect, or local partner pick-up. PaOP also features a curated selection of products for immediate purchase.
"Smaller stores definitely enable us with cost, profitability aspects but also will enable speed and access. We are building an ecosystem by complimenting many touch points to the flagship store," Pooja Grover, country expansion manager of Ikea India, told NDTV Profit.
The plan is to focus on six prioritised markets of Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and Delhi. There will be more stores in the residential hotspots of all the cities, according to Grover.
Ikea currently does not have specific timelines for the upcoming stores as of now.
Its loss swelled to nearly Rs 1,300 crore in fiscal 2024, as per a filing with the Registrar of Companies. The company saw a 4.5% increase in revenue to Rs 1,810 crore during the same year, marking the slowest pace of growth since it opened its first store in 2018. It incurred a cumulative loss of Rs 5,550 crore in India.
"We are following a plan, step by step, we are moving towards profitability and it is a combination of growing, expanding and meeting more customers. It's also about controlling costs as well and how we operate internally. We will maneuver all of this and head towards profitability," Pulverer said.
Ikea has started sales through online channels. Exploring online channels for sales is in tandem with customer demand and need, according to the CEO. So far, online sales account for 25% of total sales, and will further grow to 30%.
