"IKEA arrived in UK in the late 80's and it is said that with the exception of Abba and Volvo, this is perhaps the third most predominant area where Sweden left its mark. It opened its first store in UK at Warrington, in 1987. Unlike other international brands which target the capital for opening new stores, IKEA chose Warrington for its strategic positioning of being in close proximity to shoppers in the North West, and for its highly developed transport infrastructure. Along with opening of other stores positioned similarly, it introduced measures such as joining up with the WWF Partnership to bring down illegal logging in Russia, and every time an IKEA Family (a special scheme) member swipes his/her card at a till, 10p goes towards a donation in helping save the woodlands of UK.
Now, UK chief Martin Hansson wants to give its stores more of a British feel with inclusions such as dark wood and higher beds. Wardrobes have been altered to be just 35cm deep to accommodate “bay windows and chimney breasts.” The idea is to be more British while retailing the overall vision. Some improvements have also been wrought in introducing navigable shortcuts in crowded blue and yellow sheds and the entire furniture range has been brought online. IKEA can now safely be called the country's largest furniture retailer give or take a small margin. IKEA announced plans to reduce carbon emission and dependence on fossil fuels by putting in pound $ 4 million in installing over 39,000 solar panels spanning 10 of its UK-based stores. This is in line with its global project of ‘IKEA goes Renewable.' It has also purchased a wind-power plant in northern Scotland as part of this project.
Pre- tax profits for IKEA doubled in 2010 over the 2009 figure of pounds 17.1m .In 2010, the company reduced its staff by 10%, keeping sales intact and elevating gross margin by 30 basis points. The top performing product area was ‘kitchens.' Net profit however showed a decline to accommodate a higher tax figure for the current year, due to balancing out prior year tax figures.
After Anna Crona's announcement of resignation in July, following 25 years' service at IKEA, will the appointment of Peter Wright, believed to be the first British person to lead the UK marketing team of 19 store based marketing managers signal even happier times for the company, in tune with its current strapline, ‘Happy Inside?'"
[...] | |Nov 2010 |Launched social media centric promotional campaign | | |(Facebook). | |Jun 2010 |Flagship book shelf brand “Billy” completed thirty years.| Source: Corporate Press Releases In past 12-18 months, the company has aggressively expanded retail outlet portfolio in fastest emerging economies such as China and niche Eastern European nations. On the other hand, brand loyalty and customer retention is at the core of corporate strategy with number of safety centric product recalls worldwide (especially related to Children based). [...]
[...] In 2010 & 2011, Ikea launched soft toys campaign i.e. donation of €1 for every unit sold in retail outlets in collaboration with Save the Children and UNICEF. The campaign generated donations worth US$13.7 million (2010: US$11.3 million) in 2011 (Ikea Sustainability Report, 2010). Ikea Foundation has aggressively invested US$200 million in women and children education programmes across South East Asia for past 24 months (2010-2011). ➢ Environment: Further, increase in global warming and carbon footprint initiated importance of environment and reduction of energy consumption on corporate level. [...]
[...] ➢ Argos and Wilkinson is the core competitors for Ikea Group in United Kingdom and European markets. Argos Ltd is offering high discounted bundled pricing to improve volume share in 2011. Cheaper product portfolio in economic downturn and turmoil (EU debt crises) and fragmented marketspace will hamper competitive advantage. ➢ Low priced counterfeit brands from China, Vietnam and Indonesia will hamper customer loyalty and retention rates on long-term basis. ➢ Finally, natural disaster such as Tsunami, Hurricanes etc and energy shortage at production facilities will hamper business continuity and revenue growth. [...]
[...] | | ➢ Strengths: A) Globally, the company has home furnishing product portfolio of approximately 9,500. Ikea Group is vertically integrated with sister enterprises Swedwood and IKEA Communications AB offering procurement and marketing business activities complimenting the core retail segment. B) Asia and low cost destinations in Europe accounted for 96% of group procurement contracts worldwide. Further, the company has geographically differentiated supplier catalogue reducing inventory and business discontinuity risks on long-term basis. ➢ Weaknesses: A) Europe is the biggest marketspace for Ikea Group constituting 79% of group revenues. [...]
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