Ikea planning to offer delivery, assembly services at Mumbai and Hyderabad stores
Focus on accessibility of stores, says Ikea India CEO Juvencio Maeztu
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Swedish furniture retailer Ikea is planning to offer its products via e-commerce and will provide home delivery and at-home assembly services for customers of its upcoming stores in Mumbai and Hyderabad, a top executive said on Thursday.
“We want to be accessible and make it easy for people to come to Ikea stores," Juvencio Maeztu, chief executive of Ikea India, said on the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony for the company’s store in Turbhe, Navi Mumbai.
Ikea is investing over Rs1,000 crore in the store. “We will be active in home delivery and assembling, and in cash-and-carry formats," Maeztu added.
Typically, Ikea’s big box stores are located outside major cities along highways, meaning most customers drive up to the store. However, the Mumbai store is also next to the suburban Turbhe railway station that connects the area to the rest of Mumbai city, as well as on the Thane-Belapur highway.
Maeztu said the company wants to make sure people are able to visit the Ikea store using public transport. “We will also have a shuttle service connecting people to the store, helping them to come over," he added.
Ikea’s range of do-it-yourself (DIY) furniture usually requires some assembly at home, but Maeztu said the company is considering providing after-sales assembly services to customers.
“We will add e-commerce at a later stage, but only as a complement to the stores," Maeztu said. “We are a touch-and-feel company, and we want people to come over."
However, he declined to add more details about the e-commerce plans the company is considering, or when it will begin implementing them.
Ikea began constructing its first store in Hyderabad in August last year and is looking at completing and opening it within the next one year. Maeztu declined to share a more exact time.
“The Mumbai store should open within six months of (the launch of) the Hyderabad store," he said.
Ikea announced on Thursday that its store in Mumbai will be 430,000 square feet in size, with 1,500 parking spots, a 1,000-seat Swedish and Indian restaurant, and a play area for shoppers’ children called Smaland.
“More than 9,500 products will be displayed in an inspirational way, including more than 60 room settings and three full-size homes," the company said in a press statement.
Ikea is targeting 4 million customers every year at its Navi Mumbai store.
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