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IKEA's Competitive Strategies
How IKEA's Competitive Strategies Worked The company has targeted world's largest markets such as China, India, and Europe thereby a significant customer base.
The success of IKEA emanates from the concept based on providing customers with a wide variety of well-designed and functional home furnishing products. Further, the aspect of affordability enables a wider population of individuals to enjoy these products. Selling products at lower prices with a wider customer base enables the company to penetrate markets. The Swedish company has provided a unique style and brand image appealing to customers. IKEA endeavors to provide customers with beautiful, practical, and pyretic furniture to capture a wide customer base (Yohn, 2015). It has also established a competitive edge over its competitors based on the following strategies:
The company sells relatively inexpensive contemporary Scandinavian style furniture to a wide base of customers all over the world. The primary target consumer group has occurred as white-collared individuals fascinated by the unique designs employed by IKEA. It has also invested in kids' products with an additional kids' club.
II. Price differentiation has enabled the company to design stylish and functional furniture at an affordable price range that caters for a wide customer base. The pricing strategy of selling products to many people enables it to enjoy profits based on the application of economies of scale. Its price penetration strategy focuses on establishing the company as a low-cost provider.
III. IKEA wins hearts of customers based on its recommendable job at environmental protection. Its main raw materials include cotton, wood, metal, plastic, rattan, and glass. The company works to utilize as many recyclable and renewable materials as possible. In doing so, it captures a wider market of environmental protection enthusiasts.
IV. The three areas of focus for IKEA include home storage, office, and the children. Clearly, the company depicts a wider target group, a factor that explains its position as a major furniture retailer enabling it to place products in stores in every major nation.
VI. IKEA ships unfinished products in flat boxes, a method, referred to as 'flat package', leaving customers to perform final assembly. The strategy cuts shipping costs largely. Consequently, it reduces the number of staffs responsible for packaging based on the presence of less work. As a result, it can manufacture a wide array of products and ships them to various parts of the globe.
VII. The company utilizes economies of scale in making significant amounts of sales all over the world. The cost leadership applied by IKEA depicts low costs of production and high volumes of products on sale thereby resulting in profits.
VIII. IKEA sources raw materials and manufactures products in countries such as Malaysia and China thereby reducing operational costs and later shipping them to other markets.
IX. IKEA's marketing concept envisages customer orientation and relationship marketing. Customers have the opportunity in contributing towards co-designing and co-construction of new concepts. As a result, customers enjoy the experience of customizing and applying the concepts to match their living spaces. In efforts to maintain and bring home new customers, the company has a mobile loyalty program that depicts a database where interested consumers have a chance to receive discounts from the retailers.
X. IKEA also utilizes three primary promotional methods that include TV advertising, catalogs, and direct marketing. Social media platforms also come in handy, for example, utilization of Weibo in the Chinese market. IKEA has also utilized online presence in nations such as the U.S.
Competitors have had a difficult time to match IKEA's strategies. Producing well-designed products at affordable prices does not occur as an easy task to perform. Competitors have failed to cope up with IKEA's design, manufacturing, and shipping strategies.
How Ikea benefited from the application of…
References
Gustafsson, K. (2014, January 28). Ikea Sees 'Positive Signs' as Economies Start to Recover. Bloomberg Business. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-01-28/ikea-group-profit-increases-as-household-consumption-strengthens
Tabuchi, H. (2015, January 28). As Profit Slows, Ikea Notes Need to Move Online. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/29/business/as-profit-slows-ikea-notes-need-to-move-online.html
Forbes (2015, May). IKEA on Forbes Lists. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/companies/ikea/
Yohn, D. (2015, June 10). How IKEA Designs Its Brand Success. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/deniselyohn/2015/06/10/how-ikea-designs-its-brand-success/2/
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