Swedish furniture giant Ikea will open its first store in India in Hyderabad this July.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the furniture maker is most likely going to create a stir in India’s home furniture and furnishings market by selling 15% of its products for under Rs 200.
“We are very confident that we will enter the market with the lowest possible prices. There will be 1,000 products at prices below Rs 200 when we open our store,” Ikea India’s Maharashtra market manager Per Hornell told the daily.
However, the company does not seem to be in a tearing hurry to expand its India footprint, with the Mumbai store, its second, expected to be launched only in mid-2019. What’s more interesting is that Ikea, which known for its big blue box stores and not for a serious digital presence, is expected to launch its online store following the Mumbai launch in a bid to take on companies such as Pepper Fry and Urban Ladder.
The company may also experiment with new business models such as home furnishing consultancy, wherein customers opting for the Ikea family members’ programme can request home visits for personalized recommendations.
Ikea, which has a range of do-it-yourself (DIY) products, recently announced a tie-up with mobile-based services platform UrbanClap as its furniture assembly service partner for the Hyderabad store. This will allow Ikea to provide services at a low price, said Hornell, adding that these professionals trained by Ikea will reach the location within 90 minutes of booking the services online.
In May, UrbanClap, a mobile-based services marketplace said it has been engaged as the furniture assembly service partner for Ikea in Hyderabad.
Ikea also said that it is looking for land in Ahmedabad and Surat to open stores, and has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government for them.
