Present and Ikea Essay

Submitted By Veneno1
Words: 580
Pages: 3

IKEA was founded in 1943 as a mail order company, opened its first showroom ten years later in Almhult. IKEA has expanded its business to worldwide since them. IKEA international expansion progressed in three phases Scandinavian which begun in 1963, West European which begun in 1973 and North American expansion in 1976. All of them continue at a present time. IKEA mission is to offer a wide variety of home furnishing goods at a low price. At the present time IKEA offers thousands of home furnishings that range from sofas to spoons. The little items are made to match with the big items. IKEA has 253 outlets in 37 different countries, its top purchasing countries are China, Poland, and
Italy. IKEA has managed to have low prices because many of their manufacturers are in low-labor-cost countries and close to raw-materials. IKEA’s prices are 30 to 50 percent lower than most of its competitors. Its prices varies depending on the country because of exchange rates. IKEA decided to enter the United States in 1985 by 2008 37 stores generated sales of over 4 billion but success has not come without compromises. IKEA had to change some of their products designs because what gave them profits in other countries was generating losses in the U.S. customers weren’t happy with most of their designs this is because every country has different cultures and different climates and way of living. The article gives an example which is that they adjusted chest drawers to be an inch or two deeper because consumers wanted to store sweaters in them. When they did this modification their chest drawer sales increased by 40%. IKEA redesigned a fifth of its products range in the United States. Even though IKEA has managed to succeed in America they have to focus on giving their customers a better delivery service worldwide and it also has to find ways to satisfy its production capacity. The article states that IKEA’s consumers have to become proconsumers half producers and have consumers because most of its products have to be assembled and the product final destination is the consumer’s responsibility as well. IKEA’s sales continue to grow despite the fact that consumers save the most by driving to the warehouses and assembling the furniture on their own. Ikea keeps