“The effect of the pandemic has weakened”

Ikea sales fell 5 percent to CHF 1.2 billion last fiscal year. Ikea CEO Jessica Anders (52) explains that she expected this drop in an interview with Blick: “We sold a lot more during the pandemic years because a lot of people had to stay at home. This effect has weakened.” There were also delivery issues.

Still, the other is optimistic: “Bottlenecks in supply chains, especially in Asia, are slowly disappearing. The delivery situation is much more stable than last year. Already 70 percent of our products are produced in Europe. This means that 90 percent of our products are currently available.” That’s 9,500 items, most of them ready to take away.

fear of competition

Others do not want to make a binding sales forecast for the current fiscal year as the global situation is still “volatile”. However, higher demand is expected: “In general, more furniture is sold in Switzerland than in recent years.”

Due to this market growth, Ikea has not lost any market share, especially despite the enormous market expansion of Austrian competitor XXL Lutz. “We grow organically and focus on our experience and our strong brand,” others say. Ikea is taking a different strategy and opting for a mix of affordability and sustainability.

Prices will be reduced as much as possible

Affordability is important because in Switzerland, compared to others, 20 percent of the population works poorly. After paying all the bills at the end of the month, there is nothing left. Ikea will lower prices “wherever possible” to stay cheap. This has already been done for 100 products resulting in 1052 combinations. The discount ranges from more than 25 percent for inexpensive individual items, and often more than 5 percent for large furniture such as cabinets or sofas.

So far, this is only a small percentage of the total product offering. Others don’t want to ignore the possibility of price increases, but Ikea basically wants to lower prices. “We have comprehensive control over our entire value chain and therefore we are able to keep prices low over the long term,” Anderen explains.

New urban stores

The opening of the “Plan and order point” in the heart of Zurich on November 7 should have a positive impact on sales. Here you can get a free consultation by appointment or by yourself. Prior to that, test runs were conducted with three pop-up shops.

With its new business area, Ikea wants to get even closer to city centers. “We are expanding our customer segment to include urban buyers who do not have a car and have not shopped at Ikea before,” Anderen says. More such outlets are in the pipeline. Where is still a mystery. “We need to meet hybrid customer needs with a wide range of offerings,” Anderen says of diversification.

The opening of the 10th Ikea store in Ried VS in the fall of 2023 will not have any impact on sales in the current financial year. However, it is already staffed for this. “We increased our staff during the pandemic,” Anderen says. Compared to last year, Ikea now offers around 100 more jobs.

A Swiss collection in its own right

Ikea will celebrate next year: 50 years of Ikea, 30 years of Ikea in Switzerland. Not much is revealed to others about the anniversary events that will take place throughout the year. But there will be one special feature: “We are launching a limited ‘Swiss Collection’ in April. With products from a Swiss designer. In addition, our history and values, which are closely related to Switzerland, are conveyed. Switzerland was Ikea’s first foreign market.”