IKEA retailer Ingka Group is spending $3.2 billion through 2023 on new and existing stores, much of it to modify its trademark out-of-town outlets so they can double up as e-commerce distribution centres.
Most of it will be in our existing stores, since we talk about transforming, redesigning the purpose of the square metres,” Tolga Oncu, retail manager said in an interview.
Shipping online purchases from the warehouse sections of nearby out-of-town stores will mean faster and cheaper deliveries, with lower emissions, than by shipping from a few logistics centres, he said.
“Instead of building central warehouse capacities for online buys, why don’t we send it from our IKEA stores?
During the pandemic, IKEA has seen record demand for its cut-price home furnishings as people spent more time at home.
Over the past three fiscal years, Ingka has invested around 2.1 billion euros in new and existing stores in its 32 markets. The latest spending will also focus on new traditional “blue-box stores” in Romania, China and India, and new city stores, as well as planning studios, in Canada, Denmark, Italy, India, the United States and other countries.
– Reuters
