Introduction – 

IKEA – Founded in 1943, Ikea today has 422 facilities spread across more than 50 markets. The well-known furniture company has a very sizable customer base, with more than 70% of its sites located in Europe. Last year, Ikea opened its first store in India and added 19 more. The Ikea marketing plan uses some of the most recognisable brands, advertisements, and organisations in recent memory.

What is IKEA? 

One of the most well-known and prosperous home furnishings brands in the world is IKEA. This Swedish business also offers a huge selection of furnishings and accessories for the home. They are well known for their cutting-edge designs, green offerings, affordable costs, and flat-pack furniture. You probably have heard of this furniture manufacturer even if you have never been to one of their stores or purchased one of their goods. Despite the fact that IKEA is very well-known, there are probably a lot of things about this firm that you do not know. Here are 15 entertaining and fascinating IKEA facts.

1. It Was Founded in 1943 – In 1943, Ingvar Kamprad established IKEA. At the period, he was only seventeen years old. At first, it operated as a Swedish-based mail-order sales company. In 1958, he built his first store in Almhult, Smaland, after five years of selling furniture. He gave the name Mobel-IKEA to his first store. Swedish for “furniture,” mobel is a term. The business’s current operational headquarters are in Leiden, Netherlands.

2. Among the wealthiest individuals in the world is Ingvar Kamprad – Ingvar Kamprad has grown to be one of the richest men in the world, despite the fact that he only started his business when he was 17 years old thanks to the success of IKEA. He appeared in the Forbes list of billionaires for 2016. The actual sum of his personal net worth varies from $3.3 billion to $53 billion depending on whether IKEA is counted as part of his personal assets or a foundation asset.

3. It is the World’s Largest Furniture Retailer – A modest chain of furniture stores that started as a mail order business and eventually expanded into a multibillion dollar organisation quickly grew. The biggest furniture retailer in the world since 2008 is IKEA. There are presently 415 outlets in 49 countries, and there are plans to add additional locations soon. They have a yearly income of over $37.8 billion and employ approximately 150,000 people. One-tenth of all furniture purchased in the UK each year is reportedly provided by IKEA.

4. The Name is an Acronym – If you enjoy IKEA stores and its items, you may have questioned what the name of the business was. Although it appears to be a single word, the founder really came up with the acronym. Ingvar Kamprad, the founder, is represented by the first two letters of the name. The “E” in Kamprad’s name stands for Elmtaryd, the name of the farm where he was raised. The nearby community of Village is represented by the letter “A.”

5. Additionally, They’re Known for Their Food – IKEA has developed a reputation for its meals even though they specialise in selling furniture and home furnishings. Each of their stores features a café close to the exit where customers may grab a bite to eat after finishing their shopping. To help consumers start their days off well with a filling breakfast, some of their cafés open before the stores do. The Swedish cuisine provided in IKEA cafes is well-known, particularly the meatballs that are available at each location.

The menus differ based on the country in which the business is located because the stores throughout the world also provide local cuisine. The first café was established in 1960 when the proprietor saw that customers were leaving without making a purchase because they were hungry. Customers have bought 11.6 billion plates of meatballs and 1.2 billion hotdogs since 1987, the year the first café

6. Stores Have Kids Play Areas – Families frequently shop at IKEA. In order for families to make an entire day out of their trip to IKEA, it was decided to add play spaces to IKEA stores. They can dine, shop, and have fun. Additionally, parents are permitted to leave their kids while going shopping. The name of the children’s play areas is Smaland, which also happens to be the name of the province where the founder was born and means “little lands” in Swedish. In some of the establishments, pagers are given to the parents so that they can be contacted if their child needs assistance by the staff at the play area.

7. Most Popular Product is Bookcase – IKEA sells a wide range of products, the bulk of which are connected to furniture. Every room in the house can have a specific piece of furniture that is suitable for that room’s intended use. The Billy Bookcase is the item that has sold the most of all of these. Between September 1 and October 25, 2012, the business sold 503,441 in less than two months. Statistics show that IKEA sells a bookcase every ten seconds.

8. They Use Huge Amounts of Wood – IKEA uses a lot of wood-based materials in the production of several of its goods, including wood, wood chips that have been processed, and particleboard manufactured from sawdust. Each year, they consume enormous volumes of wood products. It is estimated that this company uses 1% of the global supply of commercial wood. The only source of particleboard derived from sawdust is a Swedish company by the name of Hultsfred, which processes about 30 million pounds of sawdust everyday.

9. The Astonishing Visitor and Product Sales Figures of This Furniture Retailer – The Astonishing Visitor and Product Sales Figures of this Furniture Retailer. IKEA had more than 690 million visitors to their stores worldwide in only 2012 alone. This number is more than twice as many people as there are in the United States. The numbers pertaining to their product sales are equally astounding. This shop reportedly distributes goods totaling 800 million cubic feet each year. This can fill about 9,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, to put it in perspective.

10. They Employ an Efficiency Model to Maintain Low Prices – The low prices of IKEA are one factor in its popularity. They were able to steadily increase the efficiency of their operations and maintain as low of pricing as possible by using an efficiency model, which is why this is the case. IKEA has passed on its savings to their customers, unlike many businesses that increase prices to enhance profit margins while simultaneously increasing efficiency to save money. They have decreased their prices yearly by at least 2% since the year 2000. The brand now heavily relies on this model’s effectiveness and affordability.

11. The first flat-pack piece of furniture to be sold was a side table; IKEA is now well-known for offering affordable flat-pack pieces of furniture that consumers can assemble themselves. The LOVET was the first piece of furniture added to their line of flat-pack products. This side table has a leaf-like shape. In 1956, 13 years after the company was established, it first featured in an IKEA catalogue.

12. They Have a Larger Catalog Than the Bible – It’s common knowledge that the Bible is one of the best-selling books of all time. However, for one year the IKEA catalogue’s distribution stats were higher than the Bible’s sales figures. The 2012 IKEA catalogue was printed in 212 million copies. 29 different languages were used to print these. A 100 million Bible sales projection was made for the same year. This means that in that particular year, more IKEA catalogues were circulated than Bibles were bought.

13. The Founder’s Dyslexia Was Considered When Choosing Product Names – You might have asked how this corporation chooses the names of its products. Due to his dyslexia, Ingvar Kamprad found it challenging to work with catalogue numbers. Instead, they made the decision to assign names to each of the goods. These names varied according to the kind of merchandise. The furniture, for instance, is divided into categories and given Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, or Scandinavian location names for each one. Products in the children’s line bear the names of animals, birds, or adjectives. While soft furnishings are given either women’s names or mathematical phrases, the garden furniture is all given names of Swedish islands.

14. They Have Sold Smart Products Since 2016 – IKEA has modified its product lineup over the course of its existence to reflect prevailing styles and customer preferences. Many smart home gadgets have been sold by them since 2016. The TRADFRI smart lighting kit was the company’s initial offering. IKEA needed to cooperate with other businesses as a result of their entry into this technical sector. They’ve teamed up with Sono and Philips Hue to include their speaker systems into a line of furniture that will be released in 2019.

15. They Were Involved in an Environmental Scandal – IKEA is now well known for making environmentally friendly furniture and for putting a variety of methods in place to reduce the environmental impact of their manufacturing operations. They have, however, not always been in this situation and have previously been linked to an environmental scandal.

IKEA was the focus of a well publicised environmental crisis involving the use of formaldehyde in their goods and manufacturing practices in the early 1980s as well as in 1992. While this had a short-term negative effect on the business, they were able to turn the situation around by putting procedures in place to address the issue and demonstrating that they were taking steps to minimise their long-term impact on the environment.

IKEA Target Audience – 

Ikea caters to the specific functional requirements of each target market, with a focus on people between the ages of 16 and 34. It offers remedies for:

• Bachelors
• Single people not living at home
• Newly married couples
• Families with the youngest child under six
• Older married couples with dependent children
• No children families
• Labour force
• Retired
• Students
• Professionals

As a result, it employs the following categories of product positioning:

• Mono-segment positioning: It targets a single client segment that is price-conscious and values good value over quantity.
• Adaptive positioning is the practice of regularly realigning products and services to reflect shifting consumer preferences. The Swedish furniture chain takes the shifting nature of consumer preferences into account. For instance, its most recent goods reflect the growing global trend toward simplicity.

IKEA Marketing Strategy – 

The Ikea marketing strategy is unique, innovative, and distinctive while keeping a clear value proposition, which greatly contributes to its success.

A Unique, Resonant Brand Theme – The Swedish national colours are proudly reflected throughout Ikea’s marketing strategy, from the buildings’ exteriors to the savoury meatballs served in the cafeterias of its stores. It gives all aspects of their identity a sense of self-assurance that keeps them afloat in a market when intense competition is present.

Budget-Friendliness and Sustainability are Priorities – Ikea expands personalization, flexibility, and mix-and-match furniture modules in recognition that a straightforward tiered model won’t promote repeat business. It successfully integrates sustainability and affordability into its marketing plan to assure success. The furniture alternatives are made to last even though they don’t provide a lifetime warranty. Its dedication to sustainability is shown in even its recyclable shopping bags.

Sponsorship and Influencers – Easy to Assemble, a humour programme sponsored by IKEA. A furniture product demo couldn’t compare to its creative content marketing. The Ikea marketing approach has improved with the inclusion of sponsored digital marketing initiatives and social media influencers.

Outstanding in-store experience – Ikea displays its products expertly and makes use of the greatest lighting setups to increase sales. The best-matched objects are purposefully arranged in mimic rooms to promote impulsive purchases and provide decorating ideas. The company also provides excellent customer service to make the customer’s experience memorable and promote repeat business.

promoting websites and mobile applications – In order to keep visitors on the site and draw new ones, Ikea makes sure that its mobile website is as fast, has clear button displays, and has intuitive gesture controls. It makes thoughtful investments in its UI/UX, chatbot that answers questions, and routine updates on new deals, sales, and promotions. One of the business’s most successful marketing techniques is to get users to download its 3D modelling software and build their ideal home. IKEA’s ability to upsell its low-demand items by inspiring clients to redecorate the room is one of its best marketing strategies.

Ikea’s SMM (Social Media Marketing) – On social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, Ikea’s handles are quite active. They have a significant internet presence with more than 30 million Facebook likes, 1 million Instagram followers, 5.3 thousand Twitter followers, and 41.2 thousand YouTube subscribers.

Its website is connected in the Instagram bio. Links to the website’s numerous social media posts are also available. An effective Ikea marketing plan may be seen in its “see shop” and “call” options for product catalogue and direct support, respectively. IKEA also holds free online workshops that draw a large number of eager participants and generate leads.

Content Marketing – Ikea depends on its content marketing strategy to stand out among other furniture manufacturers. With eye-catching content, its television ads, print ads, social media posts, and websites stand out. It displays the brand’s key principles and motivates individuals by fusing innovation and humour.

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