IKEA - A Furniture Retailer That Feels Like Home
Another brand that thrived through the 90s is a furniture brand that made its mark all over the world. Beautiful furniture that actually forces you to build them yourself, from scratch.
Ian Ng
6/11/20232 min read
IKEA, A Swedish Brand that Sells Furniture Flat-Packed
Yes you read that right. One of the most famous furniture retailers in the world, sells you furniture flat-packed into boxes. The only catch is that you have to assemble these furniture yourself after buying. That is the concept of DIY, and IKEA was one of the earliest to practice that in the 90s.
But, why is this even a selling point, you ask?
It is because IKEA already gave you the visuals, the context and the idea of the completed product right before you make your purchase decision!
Heard of the iconic IKEA catalogue?
Yes, they are already directing you to furniture wonderland with these catalogues. The items they sell, combined with colorful visuals, placed strategically within designated living spaces, tells a different story to each person who dare peek into that catalogue. You knew how it's gonna look like, how wonderful it is to you, and how you're going to place it in your living space. In addition to that, their designs are modern and trendy to start with!
Catalogues were sent to house addresses right from them each year, and you could spend the whole day just admiring how they decorated those spaces with the items they are trying to sell.
As of now though, to adapt to changing times, IKEA has stopped production of their print catalogues and moving them online. Sustainability is also one of IKEA's business practices.
Allure of price vs competitors
What if you can get the same kind of furniture that is equally beautiful but at a much lower price? With a DIY approach to selling furniture, IKEA does actually that because they can easily lower costs by cutting out middlemen. Flat-packing their items also lowers shipping and delivery costs.
The retail experience that makes you want to spend your entire day at their store
Do you know that each retail store of IKEA has a wonderfully designed floor plan that is separated into categories? These retail categories are designed to give you ideas and inspiration, make you feel comfortable and stay a little longer, and makes you curious of what's coming next after you are done with one area.
And also, the children's play area plus, the iconic IKEA cafe serving swedish meatballs for decades already.
IKEA has everything for every member of the family. It is always family time/swedish meatball time/all-day shopping time with each trip to IKEA.