Digital Transformation of IKEA in China

In the digital transformation, IKEA is slow to act. IKEA China only opened its flagship store on Tmall in 2020, which is also the epitome of IKEA’s brand transformation.

In November 2020, IKEA announced that it will lay off 7,500 employees worldwide in the next two years. This is the largest job adjustment in the history of IKEA since the layoff of 5,000 employees in the financial crisis in 2009. The goal of staff adjustment is to improve online business. According to IKEA, 11,500 jobs related to e-commerce and distribution will be created in the next two years.

IKEA China is also thinking about strategic transformation, but only to open the official store on the PC side. Mobile Internet has been developing in China for so many years, but IKEA China wants to let users place orders on the PC side, which can be said to be out of date. But now IKEA has corrected its thinking. With the opening of the Tmall flagship store, IKEA’s official App was also launched simultaneously.

On March 24, 2021, IKEA China launched the WeChat applet for shopping.

At the same time, IKEA China released a series of ePR

So far, IKEA China has shown us four important channels for its digital transformation: official website, Tmall, IKEA Mini Program, and IKEA APP.

Among the four channels, Tmall is undoubtedly the number one channel for IKEA’s online business with the help of mature shopping processes and large traffic. Other channels are also attracting different customer groups.