“Home is the most important place in the world.”

1. “Home is the most important place in the world.” Stream 130, Group 1325ViolinaGeorgievaIvan IvanovKalinaCholakova

2. IKEAisation’s Map

3. IKEA’s History TO THE END • Founded in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kampard • IKEA is a combination of the founder’s initials and the names of the farm(Elmtaryd) and village(Agunnaryd) where he grew up in Southern Sweeden. • He realized that the customers would bypass added amenities to save money. • IKEA’s History in few minutes -> HERE.“The IKEA Concept”The Ikea Concept: Provide functional, well-designed furniture at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. SWOT?

4. IKEA BACK TO IKEA’s HISTORY

5. SWOT analysis • SWOT is a planning tool that helps firms focus on key issues. IKEA uses SWOT analysis to look at the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats inside and outside the business. Strengths and Weaknesses are internal aspects, such as marketing or production. These can be used or changed by the business. Opportunities and Threats are external factors that the business needs to take account of. For example, the business has less control over environmental or social changes. Businesses create opportunities by using their strengths and counter threats by dealing with any weakness.

6. STRENGTHS • Well-known as high quality brand -> AFTER WATCHING THISYOU’ll HAVE NO DOUBTS! • A strong global brand which attracts key consumer groups. It promises the same quality and range worldwide.Strengths for IKEA come from a variety of different places. Some of the best strengths include that it is a global brand; this means that since it is known worldwide that many customers expect that it will have the same quality worldwide also. • Do-it-yourself approach. • Brand Image. • Low Cost Structure and strong focus on sustainability.The products can be easily assembled by customers, which help with the low prices they offer. IKEA also has long term partner-ships that will also allow them to get their merchandise quickly and for a lower cost. • A 'democratic design' reaching an ideal balance between function, quality, design and price.‘smarter’ use of raw materials with less waste

7. IKEA BACK TO STRENGTHS

8. WEAKNESSES • Same prices? • Weak support for pregnant women(old people or disadvantaged people)A good example is one of the episode of Ellen’s show where Ellen knowingly sent a girl to IKEA in a pregnancy belly to see who would help her with her shopping car. The hidden cameras caught it all. No one but another customer(woman) took attention to the screaming pregnant woman who needed help with her purchases.(YouTube’s search bar->Ellen show Ikea->”Cash for Kindness” is the name of the video) • The size and scale of its global business - hard to control standards.One of the weaknesses for IKEA is that since they are global, that it may be difficult to maintain their product standards. This means that since they are a global corporation, it will be hard to keep all of the standards the same because there are so many of them. • Low-cost need to be balanced against quality.Also a weakness is that the low cost vision hurts them because they want to have good quality and a low price. This means they are stuck in the middle between trying to achieve high quality, and also trying to give customers low prices, which is somewhere you don’t want to be stuck. • Weak ONLINE support.

9. We’ve always thought IKEA prices were standard round the world and wherever you go the price for a BILLY is a BILLY. Nope, if you take a look at Idealo’s price comparison research. From the results, it seems we should be moving to Poland, the country with the lowest prices for IKEA, with or without VAT. • Singaporeans and Australians, you’ve been paying the most for your IKEA fix. And my American friends, Portland’s the place to shop IKEA. • The survey by Idealo.co.uk is an analysis of the prices worldwide of 40 popular IKEA products prices in 33 countries with an IKEA presence. Here are some of the highlights from the research: • Highlights for the US: - IKEA Prices in Portland, OR (lowest U.S. sales tax – 0%) rank as the third cheapest in the world. - IKEA Prices in Seattle, WA (highest U.S. sales tax – 9.5%) rank as the 17th cheapest in the world. - IKEA Prices in Canada are 12% higher than in Portland, OR - IKEA Prices in Portland, OR rank as the most affordable in the world relative to the U.S. economy. - IKEA Prices in Canada rank as the 10th most affordable in the world relative to the Canadian economy.

10. OPPORTUNITIES • ONLINE connection with its customers 24/7.In times when we communicate and purchase things primarily by Internet, a big brand like IKEA should be available with giving advices, information and etc in chat room or window somewhere in its website. • More customizationSuccessful establishment may require more customization options on products such as colors, style and accents. • Inadequate web presenceThis is may be the greatest challenge for IKEA. Most of the countries it operates in do not support e-commerce • Overcome disparate governmental rules.IKEA may face some India-specific challenges such as varying laws in different states ruled by different political parties. This could make its operations, especially distribution and logistics, a bit challenging. IKEA already has had to wait a long time to get permission to open stores in India. The delay in policy-making at the state level could be even longer.

11. THREATS • Tax changes • Increasing costs. Rising cost of raw materials. • Government regulationsIKEA's plan to set up restaurants as part of its big-box outlets. While some governments may allow IKEA to sell its own single-branded food and beverage items, it has made it clear that the company will not be permitted to sell eatables and beverages of any other brand, this person said. Globally, IKEA sells items such as Swedish meatballs, chicken items, salads, bakery products as well as products of other companies, including Pepsi, at its cafes.

12. IKEA values operating in an environmentally-conscious manner, with regard to using sustainable goods, and renewable energy sources. Does this directly translate into higher sales? That is, do customers really choose IKEA over competitors based on social value? • Will IKEA ultimately be forced to compromise on long-held operational choices in order to successfully establish itself worldwide (e.g., catalog-driven marketing plan; do-it-yourself product assembly, and large store size)? • Which is a bigger source of competitive advantage for IKEA: its efficient distribution system or its strong organizational culture?