Strong words from the CEO of Ikea. Furniture Today has an article today that says that a memo is making the rounds in Sweden from Anders Dahlvig, CEO and President.
“According to the memo, which came from Anders Dahlvig, Ikea’s CEO and president, the Swedish company will focus on the in-store experience as “the only sales channel,” putting a halt on “further investments to develop the Home Shopping or Online sales channel(s).”"
An Ikea spokesman followed up later stating that there are no plans to discontinue ecommerce in the US.
This is a surprising move for Ikea, given the fact that their supply chain and merchandise is specifically designed to be small and transportable before reaching the consumer. Out of all of the furniture retailers, these guys are set up perfectly to excel in the ecommerce market.
I’m a firm believer in focusing on a few things you can do really well, but abandoning the ecommerce market is a bit too narrow for me. Either way, it’ll be interesting to watch.
