Introduction

“IKEA,” this name has become synonymous with “affordable furniture,” throughout the world. It is one of the companies, that has a top-class marketing strategy which continues to drive customers towards them.

It is a perfect example for the companies that want to improve their marketing campaigns. Let us have a look at how do they do it.

Purpose of this Article

At Sprintzeal we possess a growth mindset that allows us to learn from the strengths as well as from the weaknesses of others, and in order to improve ourselves as a company which provides value to its customers, we are willing to learn from everything around us.

Today we would tell you about- how a company like IKEA is able to create customers within a wide range of demographics. 

Join us in this journey as we study how IKEA manages to excel in its marketing endeavors.

About IKEA

IKEA is a multinational company known for its furniture and their affordable prices. They produce ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchenware, and home accessories.

They have been successful in creating a powerful brand image in the minds of their customers, by being consistently competent throughout the years.

History of IKEA

IKEA was started by a 17-year-old carpenter Ingvar Kamprad in 1943, Sweden. It is an organization that is known for its cheap products and unique designs.

It started off as a company that sold pens, wallets, and jewelleries with the concept of meeting consumers demands at the most affordable prices.

After five years into the business, IKEA brought in the furniture. Since then, furniture has been their primary focus for the business.

IKEA has always tried to better the lives of people. It is a furniture company that produces ready-to-assemble furniture that gives the customers a novel experience of building their furniture by themselves.

Growth in Market

- From recent studies IKEA retail sales reached 44.6 billion euros last year.

IKEA benefited after pandemic, as the inflation and supply chain issues impacted the market and it led to rising costs of products.

Though sales grew in money, but the sales quantity was not nearly enough.

- 38 new IKEA sales locations opened around the world in 2022.

Overall, IKEA welcomed 822 million visitors in 2022 compared to 775 million in 2021. Store sales grew mainly in Europe, where 2021 lockdowns were most severe. At the same time, online sales were 10% lower compared to 2021. IKEA online channels hosted 4.3 billion visitors, down from 5 billion the previous year.

Goals and Strategies

IKEA is one of the pioneers when it comes to creating a marketing strategy that is unique to their brand on different fronts.

There are various marketing strategies adopted by IKEA, let us take a look at some of them.

IKEA Digital Marketing Strategy

IKEA social media campaigns consists of making use of social media channels like Facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc. to promote their products. IKEA content marketing strategy involves creating engaging content for the customers. From their banners to their payment methods it has creative elements that draws customers interests.

IKEA Advertising Strategy

Apart from innovative design and cheap price IKEA uses things like “Chat bot” to gain deep insights into their customer’s behavior.

They also have an efficient packaging strategy for their products as well. This strategy helps them save a considerable amount of money and material at the end of the day.

They give their customers a pleasant experience at their stores while they are shopping, be it the food court or designing the store like a maze. They are capable of increasing the shopping time of their customers, which leads to increase in their sales.

IKEA likes to stay in touch with the technological advancements. They like to apply these technologies into IKEA marketing plan for the products. Recently they made use of AR and VR technology in their mobile app. Such usage of innovation is something that other companies can learn from IKEA.

IKEA Brand Strategy

IKEA has remained consistent with their brand style; this has formed a prominent brand image in the minds of their customers and audiences.

The fact that the name “IKEA” has become synonymous with “furniture” says a lot about their brand strategy.

The main goal of IKEA is to better their customer’s everyday lives through their products. They have come a long way and are nearing their final goal, that too at a global level. IKEA becoming the top furniture brand throughout the world is no longer just a possibility, but is something very close to the reality.

Challenge

The major challenge for the Swedish company was their limited influence in the world market and the insignificant role of the sales person in their company, people expected the presence of a sales person to be there as the products were ready-to-assemble type and people were not used to assembling their own furniture.

They wanted some guidance and were not ready to accept change.

Solution

The solution for the problem was to improve their marketing strategies and introduce the concept of ready-to-assemble furniture bit by bit and familiarize the audiences with this new concept without being impatient with them. Years later they were successfully able to change their audiences and altered their preferences to liking their product instead of other products in the market.

Reference

The information was taken from

IKEA’s own about page

IKEA Harvard Case Solution & Analysis from thecasesolutions.com

IKEA marketing strategy: 7 tactics and takeaways from brafton.com

Research Details

Our team at Sprintzeal has referred to 2 case studies and the time for research was 9 hours. We tried to make this article as concise as possible. The reader should be able to get an idea of IKEA marketing strategy after reading this article.

Conclusion

Now you have come to the end of this article. This article is relevant to all those who are trying to start their own businesses and also the general populace who can get inspiration from IKEA’s success story.

Our team at Sprintzeal will keep you informed with our blog posts such as this one. Let us be your guide and teacher in your journey to success. Those interested in digital marketing, or want to start their careers, can start by enrolling to our Digital marketing program. After learning the basics, you would be able to understand the true genius of IKEA and their marketing strategy.