\n– Ray Kinsella, Field of Dreams, 1989<\/p>\n
Recently a few photos were shared on a WhatsApp group that I was part of with a question, \u201cguess where this was taken?\u201d Those happened to be pictures of people thronging IKEA\u2019s first store in India. A weekday didn\u2019t prevent 40,000<\/a> curious customers from trooping in to see what the hype was all about.<\/p>\n This craze to visit the store persisted and by the weekend, IKEA put up a live\u00a0ticker on its homepage<\/a> and social media updates urging people to plan their visits by checking how long it would take for them to get inside the store. They also had to hire 3 external parking<\/a> lots 3-4 kilometers away with free shuttle services to ease traffic congestion near the store.<\/p>\n How did IKEA manage to pull in such massive crowds to the store launch and then sustain it? Will their typical large \u201cblue box\u201d format work in India? How do they stack up against competition? More importantly, will they succeeded in instilling a DIY culture among shoppers or as another WhatsApp joke in the group went, will \u201cpeople use IKEA’s free Wi-Fi to WhatsApp measurements and pictures of the furniture to their carpenters\u201d?\u00a0 Read on for our summary from a quick visit to IKEA\u2019s first Indian store.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are really going all (out) in India,\u201d\u00a0<\/strong> IKEA had clearly planned and built up this euphoria. One of the first things they did after applying<\/a> to open stores in India in 2012, was to put in place a marketing team. The team first researched<\/a> consumer preferences before getting agencies<\/a> on board to work on their first media campaign<\/a>.\u00a0 And, every small decision was made newsworthy by their international PR team.<\/p>\n Almost a year ago, they opened up an experience centre<\/a> called \u2018Hej Home\u2019 to give a touch-and-feel taste of IKEA to Hyderabad. Beginning this year, they hired a PR<\/a> agency dedicated to India.\u00a0 A few months before the store opening front-page newspaper<\/a> ads were followed by their TV<\/a> ad and the city continues to be plastered<\/a> with their billboards and posters. They also tried various publicity stunts to generate PR including putting IKEA branded cartons<\/a> on airport conveyor belts, giving bus shelters an IKEA makeover<\/a> and a VR tour<\/a> of the store in an auto ride.<\/p>\n While these are still early days, this \u201call out\u201d approach has clearly worked for IKEA India. Their existing brand perception and marketing efforts have generated sustained interest and driven footfalls to the store in the last month or so. Such has been the 360\u00b0 marketing blitzkrieg that the awareness<\/a> of the brand in Hyderabad went from 5% in 2016 when they started building the store to 80% by the time it opened in 2018, and they signed up<\/a> nearly 1.7 lakh IKEA family members in India\u00a0of which 20,000 were from outside Hyderabad.<\/p>\n A \u201cbetter and quicker starting point in India\u201d<\/strong> The store retains the typical<\/a> IKEA blue box style \u2013 massive, experiential, relaxing but with an emphasis on self-service all at the same time. The snaking walk through an uncrowded 400,000 sq. ft. store built on a 13 acre<\/a> site in the heart of the IT hub in Hyderabad takes more than an hour. You are made to see each and every room in the \u2018showrooms\u2019 before entering the \u2018market hall\u2019 to check out the odds and ends for a home; \u00a0then walk through the warehouse \/ self-serve area to pick up the flat-packed items you\u2019ve chosen and proceed to checkout. There is of course the massive 1000 seater restaurant with children\u2019s play area right before this winding journey and another snack bar and play area after checkout.<\/p>\n In a day and age when the slant of debates about retail favor online and e-commerce – with a recent tilt towards omni-channel – this is a welcome change. The next IKEA, in Mumbai, at 500,000 sq.ft., is going to be even bigger! These massive physical IKEA\u2019s are going to\u00a0 beat the Home Town\u2019s, Home Stop\u2019s, Home Centre\u2019s, @Home\u2019s and Interio\u2019s hollow, and\u00a0 give tough competition to the Urban Ladder\u2019s, Pepperfry\u2019s and even the Amazon\u2019s of the world.<\/p>\n \u201cThis (concept) is all new to the people\u201d<\/strong> The research done via the 1000 odd home visits<\/a> to understand consumer habits, practices and preferences seems to have given the team a great understanding of the average Indian\u2019s \u00a0price sensitivity. The emphasis on affordability starts right from the mass media communication and it permeates through the store where the price tags are as prominent as the furniture and articles themselves.\u00a0 As soon as you enter, a bin with colorful plastic spoons priced at <\/em>Rs.15 screams \u2018bargain\u2019 and the price tag on all items show a selling price 15-40% lower than an illusory MRP. There is of course the Hyderabadi Dum Biryani priced at Rs.99, Samosas at Rs.10 (both of which are apparently their hot sellers) and hot beverages at Rs.40 with free refills.<\/p>\n The DIY philosophy and the nudge to break the lazy, pampered Indian shopping habit and shopper too is visible. While the furniture assembly service is available, its price is clearly demarcated on the price tags to nudge the bargain hunters to do some work themselves. The store is peppered with boards and touch screens educating customers how to read the labels to pick up the product in the self-service area. \u00a0The army of 800<\/a> in-store staff is conspicuous by their absence. The ones at the help desks are seen urging customers to use the companion IKEA app or go on the website to know more about service terms and conditions. This nudge is even more prominent near the automatic checkouts, with power tools being one of the prominent items displayed there. After checkout the customers are guided to desks to do their own bubble and gift wrapping; or to touch screens where they can book delivery or an assembly service by themselves. \u00a0I am not sure if this is part of their DIY nudge, but it is one of the few brands which has launched without a Twitter presence. (Twitter is fast becoming the go – to place for Indian customers to air their frustrations and get a brand\u2019s attention for support.)<\/p>\n But this tough battle against a non-existent DIY culture is something that IKEA also seems to be acutely aware of. They\u2019ve already anticipated the demand for allied services and invested heavily in those just in case this DIY nudging doesn\u2019t work. The tweaks<\/a> for the Hyderabad launch include employing a 150 member strong in-house assembly team and tie-up with GATI-KWE for home delivery services and Urban Clap for further installation services.<\/p>\n Overall, they seem to have put in place a solid ecosystem to educate and help the shopper \u2013 from in-store communication, delivery or in-home service, to the web\/app\/e-commerce backbone which supports customer education, returns etc. I have no doubt that the price sensitive Indian customers (or at least a section of them) will wake up to the DIY culture and learn to take home, assemble and maintain their own furniture. (Though one of their rivals, Home Town, is banking on the opposite and had banners outside IKEA emphasizing the service offered.)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ravi.rajiniravi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IKEA-1-620x196.png\")
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\n– Patrik Antoni, Deputy Country Manager, IKEA India<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ravi.rajiniravi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IKEA-3-620x311.png\")
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\n– Ulf Smedberg, Country Marketing Manager, IKEA India<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ravi.rajiniravi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IKEA-4-620x150.png\")
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\n– Mia Lundstr\u00f6m, Creative Director, IKEA India<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ravi.rajiniravi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IKEA-5-620x152.png\")
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