Swedish furniture retailer IKEA’s online strategy helped it survive the Covid-19 slump in India.
Footfall at IKEA’s flagship Indian store in the southern city of Hyderabad halved to around 2 million between September 2019 and August 2020 (FY20) as compared to 4 million in FY19, the company said in a press release today.
However, its website, which was launched in India in August 2019, saw over 25 million visitors in FY20.
“It has been a significant year for IKEA India…New services like Click & Collect, remote planning, and home furnishing consultancy was launched in Hyderabad. We have been lowering our prices for many articles to become even more affordable for our consumers,” said Peter Betzel, CEO and CSO of IKEA India.
The company now hopes its omnichannel strategy will help it deliver a strong performance in the next year.
“We look forward to a strong and positive FY 2021 (September 2020-August 2021) with our new IKEA store and also smaller formats coming up in Mumbai,” added Betzel. “2021 is also the year of sustainability for IKEA and we will continue to enable and inspire more people to live a more sustainable life at home.”
After opening a signature big-box store in Hyderabad in August 2018, IKEA has been taking a more localised approach in India. The company plans to open several smaller shops that will have the same look and feel of a larger store, and also has a strategy to reach out to other Indian cities via e-commerce.