Swedish home furnishings retailer Ikea is exploring possibilities to establish company’s omnichannel presence in Tamil Nadu. The company’s top management recently met the Tamil Nadu government delegation at the Davos 2023 and discussed opportunities in the state for retail, manufacturing and sourcing.
The Tamil Nadu team was led by state industry minister Thangam Thennarasu that held talks with Juvencio Maeztu, Deputy CEO and CFO, Ingka Group
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When contacted, an Ikea India spokesperson told FE: “Ingka global leadership met the government of Tamil Nadu during WEF in Davos to explore possibilities to expand Ikea’s omnichannel presence in the market. Tamil Nadu is a potential market for the Ingka group. Our ambition is to reach many more people with our well-designed, affordable, functional, and sustainable home furnishing solutions.”
The company is currently online in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Gujarat and Bengaluru. Three big format Ikea stores are operational in Hyderabad, Navi Mumbai and Bengaluru. A city centre store opened in Mumbai in December 2021 and another one opened in July 2022. Ikea has been sourcing from India for close to 40 years working with around 65 suppliers, 48,000 direct employees and 500,000 people in the supply chain in India producing for Ikea stores worldwide.
Ikea made its debut in India with a 13-acre complex in Hyderabad in 2018. Recently, Ingka Group, the parent company of Ikea has started the process of construction of a retail destination or Ingka Centre in Noida that will be home to a large Ikea store.
Ikea India had recently launched a live streaming shopping experience called Live from Ikea, a series of live episodes where customers can engage with home furnishing experts for ideas and inspirations to live a better life at home. The viewers can also shop for the products being displayed in the live-streaming sessions.
In its recently released annual ‘Life at Home’ report in India, Ikea highlights that currently, only 60% of people feel that their home reflects their identity, and the company thinks that was not good enough. The report was aimed at finding solutions that ease the stresses and celebrate the different ways people live at home so that everyone can feel like themselves at home.
As a part of Ikea’s ongoing range development and retail approach, the company conducts home visits every year to learn about consumer needs and aspirations, people need for an easier, more relaxed, and convenient life, and reflect the insights from the Life at Home report into its home furnishing products and solutions.