In a bid to enhance its product accessibility, Swedish furniture retailer Ikea is set to initiate online doorstep deliveries to 62 new districts in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh from February 1.
The prominent retail chain also has plans to introduce e-commerce deliveries in the Delhi-NCR region within a year.
Susanne Pulverer, CEO & CSO, Ikea India, said, “Ecommerce channel has seen significant growth in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. We have seen customers travelling from a number of neighbouring markets to our stores in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Sometimes they travel half a day to come to our stores. In order to make ourselves accessible in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, we have decided to open up doorstep deliveries to additional markets in these four states. We have over time developed fulfillment capacities through our stores to serve these new markets.”
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This marks a shift in the Swedish furniture retailer’s strategy, focusing on launching new physical stores and enabling broader access to its products through e-commerce operations.
Currently, the online channel constitutes 25 percent of Ikea India’s sales, with the company anticipating a further increase in this share as it expands into new markets.
Presently, Ikea operates three large-format stores in Hyderabad, Navi Mumbai, and Bengaluru, along with two city stores in Mumbai. Additionally, its products are accessible online in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Surat.
“We have building capabilities to ensure that the online shopping expierence is seamless for our consumers in these additional markets and products arrive within the timelines that we promise. So we are working with partners for delivery. We believe we can do well in fulfilling doorstep deliveries from our stores to these 62 districts within a reasonable lead time of 7-10 days,” she added.
Discussing online shopping patterns, she highlighted that consumers typically start by purchasing smaller items, such as home furnishings and accessories.
“As consumers get acquainted with the brand, gradually they also begin buying furniture online,” she added.
Responding to a query on plans for the Delhi-NCR region, Pulverer said, “We have been working on building our presence in Delhi-NCR, a key North market. That will be our next initiative. We plan to commence online operations in about a year in Delhi which will be followed up with the opening of the meeting place integrated with an Ikea store in Gurgaon sometime in 2025.”
According to Pulverer, a recent report from Ikea revealed that 71 percent of Indian consumers hold a positive outlook for the next two years, surpassing the global average of 47 percent.
“So Indian consumers are quite positive. This is the growth decade for India and we are looking forward to more and more Indians investing in homes with rising disposable incomes. India is a priority market and we are looking forward to good growth in this decade,” she added.