Ikea to go online in Mumbai before launching first physical store

Before opening its first physical store in Mumbai, the Swedish furniture chain Ikea will launch online shopping services in the market.  

Additionally, in order to reach the younger audience, the Netherlands-headquartered retailer will also introduce small neighbourhood stores across India.

Ikea will be launching stores sized 50,000-1,50,000 sq ft. This will enable it to penetrate deeper into the domestic unorganised furniture market and take on local retailers like Urban Ladder, Pepperfry, Godrej and Fabindia. 

An Ikea India spokesperson said, “In India, we would like to reach 100 million customers in three years with a multi-channel approach. Customers will be able to shop online quite soon in the coming months in Mumbai, followed by Hyderabad and Pune and then other cities. Land sites have been acquired in Bengaluru and Gurugram and we continue to look for suitable sites in other cities across India. The ambition is to be present in as many Indian cities as possible through different channels.”

The company is planning to offer an omnichannel presence for Indian customers by integrating both online and offline platforms.

Last year, Ikea launched its first store in Hyderabad, nearly five years after receiving the government nod to invest around Rs 10,500 crore for opening 25 retail stores. Since then, the firm has revamped its plans and is eyeing at bringing in more investment to open 40 stores across different formats.