BENGALURU: Swedish furniture giant IKEA is realigning its business in order to cater to changed consumer behavior, its managing director Peter Betzel said during a panel discussion at the Bengaluru Tech Summit on Thursday.
He added that markets like India, where people opt to live in limited spaces, will witness more mindful shopping for home décor and furnishing driven by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Betzel added that along with safety concerns, consumers are also focused on sustainable buying. “The concept of functional homes is thriving globally, especially when a majority of the workforce is working from home. This is expected to increase the demand for furniture as well as décor in the future. People will cautiously spend in these categories based on the concerns of quality and safety,” Betzel added.
Experiential shopping is also expected to be in vogue, as a result of which retailers have opted to leverage omni-channel commerce. “We are definitely innovating and focusing on increasing our digital presence. While physical shopping will remain relevant, we have been looking at ways where customer can visit our stores digitally with our workers being able to support them,” he said.
The firm will also introduce smaller format stores shortly and, in India, the first such store will open in Mumbai. This is in line with IKEA’s parent company Ingka’s plans to set up smaller stores across the congested urban areas globally. This also indicates a strategic shift from the conventional warehouse-like stores that IKEA has been associated with.