Ikea plans to trial new smaller format stores in an attempt to extend their reach across Britain and Ireland. The privately owned Swedish company is known for their extensive stores and flat pack offerings. Beginning in Norwich this Autumn, Ikea will trial ‘order and collection’ points.
Ikea currently operate 18 stores in the UK, which customers cite as ‘too far away’. Ikea’s UK manager Gillian Drakeford said of the new venture ‘’Order and collection points give us the opportunity to trial new ways of being more accessible to our customers’’. Ikea have currently opened similar formats in Spain, Finland and Norway.
The Norwich outlet will allow customers to touch and test Ikea’s product range, speak to home furnishing experts and make and collect orders made online or in the store, which will also include an Ikea cafe. The move is part of a global initiative as Ikea. Ikea currently has 315 stores in 27 countries and aims to double sales to about €50 billion by 2020 through sales growth at existing stores, new stores and new markets.
