Before moving on to the story of how the IKEA company, which was founded by a 17-year-old Swedish teenager, became a world giant today, we should make an important note. IKEA is known all over the world for its affordable prices. Both dishes, furniture and home accessories are extremely cheap. However, like many things, IKEA products are not very affordable in our country, so you should examine our article from the perspective of a citizen of another country.
Today, IKEA is the first brand that comes to mind when it comes to furniture in the world. Moreover, IKEA sends these furniture as dozens of different pieces like lego. Despite this, people take the screwdriver and assemble this Swedish design furniture with pleasure. So, how did IKEA become such a world giant? What kind of service does it offer to its users, making it indispensable? Let’s take a closer look at IKEA’s story.
How was IKEA born?
The year is 1943, the place is Agunnaryd, a small town in Sweden. A 17-year-old named Ingvar Kamprad enters the furniture industry by taking a big step for himself and for humanity. The furniture he made in his farm was liked by all people in a short time, and he quickly stepped into the retail world.
Ingvar Kamprad, one of the richest people in the world today, takes the name of his company from its roots. I and K are the initials of the name, E is the initials of the farm named Elmtaryd, where it produced its first furniture, and A is the initials of the town called Agunnaryd, where it all started. Ingvar Kamprad says in many of his interviews that young Ingvar cannot even imagine these days.
Founded in a small town in Sweden, IKEA today serves its customers with thousands of stores in tens of countries around the world. A world brand in furniture, home accessories and even food. So, how did it become such a big brand? As in any business, there are some important strategies in the rise of IKEA.
The secret is in cheap and high-quality production:
IKEA is cheap, very cheap. Wherever you go in the world, for example, if you are going to buy a cabinet, you will find the cheapest model of that cabinet in IKEA stores. Not only furniture, but also home accessories are among the products that IKEA sells at prices well below the market. So, how cheap are these products?
Most of IKEA’s products are made of chipboard. Chipboard is produced by compressing recycled chips. By using chipboard instead of using a single piece of real wood, the company has almost halved the cost. The chipboards used are not processed much. It is generally left in black, white or its natural color. Fewer transactions mean lower transaction costs.
Reducing transportation costs is another strategy. While ten cabinets can fit mounted in a truck bed, maybe a hundred of IKEA’s slender boxes can fit. Thus, the truck that has to go ten times makes a single trip and transportation costs are reduced tremendously.
The fact that the products are sent in disassembled form is another factor that reduces the cost. No product is assembled by IKEA, except for the sample display products. This reduces the cost, as there is no fee paid to the master who will install it. In other words, at the end of the reduced costs, the product can be sold for almost half the market price.
IKEA gives its users a sense of ownership:
While sitting at home with your friends, you ordered pizza from outside. Your friends didn’t like the pizza. This is not a problem for you. You give low marks to the most restaurants. However, if you made that pizza with your own hands, the situation changes. You defend him, say he’s fine, and even start a fight.
IKEA also touches this feeling of its users. When you assemble a cabinet that comes in tens of pieces by hand, with sweat and sweat, that product now belongs to you. You are possessing. When your friends say something bad about that product, you are taken on and you start to defend.
Thanks to this method, which is quite simple but has solved human emotions, it is obvious that users feel as if they have produced the products they bought from IKEA. When you assemble it yourself, that product is not bought from a furniture store, it makes you feel as if it was a product you produced by cutting even the wood yourself.
IKEA stores are like a maze that leads the user to purchase:
You must have entered an IKEA store. Do you remember where you came from and where you came from? You’ve seen almost every single item before it leaves the store, right? This is one of the most important IKEA strategies. It gets customers into such a carefully designed store that you feel compelled to at least buy a lamp.
Many retail stores today follow this type of interior design strategy. IKEA is one of the brands that implements this the most. Large furniture is at the entrance of the store, because you already planned to buy it. However, that lamp, dinnerware, flowerpot, oh that beautiful painting are products that you buy just because you see them and are not very expensive.
Which of us did not fall for the sample houses?
IKEA offers display products for you to see the real version of the products it sends in dozens of pieces in a closed box. It is a standard form of presentation applied in all furniture stores. However, IKEA has prepared model houses for the first time in the world. In other words, when you buy a cabinet, you also see how that cabinet looks in a sample room.
In IKEA’s labyrinth stores, you come across a sample room every step of the way. The kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms offered are so magnificently designed that if you buy that cabinet, you will feel that you will achieve the same splendor in your home. Of course, most of us don’t have homes like this. However, you still get the cabinet and the coffee table that you think will look stylish next to that cabinet for some reason.
Everything is ok, what about meatballs?
If you have heard or seen it for the first time, you may not have understood why food is sold in a mobile store. We get the answer to this question from the founder of the company, Ingvar Kamprad. According to Ingvar Kamprad, work is not done on an empty stomach. The fact that the food section appears in the middle of the labyrinth just when you are tired confirms this claim.
Even if you ask why everyone is eating, the answer is still hidden in the prices. Like all its furniture and home accessories, IKEA offers its meals in very satisfying portions at very affordable prices. It’s not easy to go without eating because it appears right in front of you when you’re tired.
We told the story of the furniture brand IKEA, which started in a small town and continues its journey as a world giant, and the strategies behind its success. You can share your thoughts about IKEA and its products in the comments.
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