IKEA Will Trial New Smaller Store Format In UK

IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, is planning to trial a smaller format store in the U.K. in an effort to reach more consumers.

Reuters reported Wednesday (June 24) that the iconic Swedish company, privately owned and known for its modern designs and self-assembly motif, will debut “order and collection points,” starting in eastern England’s Norwich beginning in the fall of this year.

“Our customers are … telling us that with 18 stores in the U.K., we are often too far away. Order and collection points give us the opportunity to trial new ways of being more accessible to our customers,” said Gillian Drakeford, IKEA’s U.K. manager, according to Reuters.

The Norwich outlet will introduce the smaller format concept to U.K. furniture shoppers and will allow customers to move freely through various facets of the IKEA experience. They will be able to view, touch and even test IKEA’s products across various decorative items, consult with home furnishing experts and, ultimately, place and then collect orders made either online or in the store itself. And, true to form, the ubiquitous IKEA cafe will be featured at the Norwich location as well. The company will offer a limited range of products that can be purchased and then taken home on the same day.

The “order and collection point” concept has already been trialed in other countries in Europe, including Spain, Finland and Norway.

The U.K. is one of more than two dozen countries in which IKEA does business, and its store count is 315 globally. The company is looking to double its sales figure to about 50 billion euros by 2020. And, according to the newswire, the projected sales growth will come through a number of initiatives at a storewide level, including organic revenue growth, new store buildouts and entry into new markets.

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