Swedish furniture chain Ikea will launch online shopping services in the Mumbai market before opening physical stores—a first in its history. It has located two sites in Mumbai for such stores. It will also open small neighbourhood stores across India as part of its strategy to touch base with the younger generation. It operates its maiden store in Hyderabad.
The company aims to reach 100 mn customers in three years with a multi-channel approach, an Ikea India spokesperson said. Customers can shop online soon in Mumbai, followed by Hyderabad and Pune. Land sites have been acquired in Bengaluru and Gurugram and the target is to be present in as many Indian cities as possible through different channels, according to some reports.
So India will experience a combination of big Ikea stores, smaller city centre stores, pickup points and digital touch points like the shopable app and the e-commerce platform as a selling channel.
