Home wares retailer Ikea are planning to open down-sized high street stores across city centres in the UK, following a takeover by Javier Quinones as retail manager.
Quinones has stated that the new stores will open as part of a modernization programme, which will also involves expansion of the company’s online services.
Online shopping is the “new world for retailers” and “Ikea are not outside of this”, Mr Quiñones said.
“It’s not that we have to change because otherwise we will not exist tomorrow, but . . . I’m convinced that if we do not do the transformation then in the long-run we will not exist,” he added.
The new developments come after Ikea enjoyed its sixth consecutive year of sales growth, though sales were down 40 percent last year – on-year – due to a weak pound. The firm are also on the cusp of opening their twenty-second mega store in the UK, in Greenwich, with the first of the smaller high street branches expected to open on Tottenham Court Road this Autumn.
The launch follows a study of consumer habits, and a note of how customers like to interact several times with staff before purchasing a product. Order and collection trials were carried out in locations around Birmingham and London, and within the next six months, over ten thousand of Ikea’s products will be available to order online, with a 24-hour delivery service.
“I think it’s the first time we really looked into the DNA of who we have been. We were born from the store and the typical way of retailing. It’s not unique to Ikea. Every retailer needs to adapt to the new digital era.” Said Mr Quinones.
These new adaptations are vital, as without restructuring, Mr Quinones said the firm would cease to exist. Indeed, the larger outlets take three to four years to fully open and plans to open a new store in Preston were recently scrapped.
The new high street outlets will focus on customer engagement and will offer Ikea’s trademark meatballs.