IKEA_India_SeminarPaper2020_Shuporna_MEM19

iv.
Plugging the Cultural Differences through product adaptation IKEA
conducted visits to about 1,000 homes in various cities to understand how
people lived and what they needed. Indian families spend a lot of time
together, with relatives frequently popping in, so the company added more
folding chairs and stools that could serve as flexible seating.
And with children often sleeping in the same room as their parents until they
are in elementary school, its model bedroom squeezes in a child’s bed amid
all the other furniture.
Even the cafeteria caters to Indian tastes, with biryani, samosas and chicken
instead of beef Swedish meatballs (due to religious belief) on the menu and
1,000 available seats, more than any other Ikea in the world, to accommodate
the more leisurely dining style of Indian families.
Product range here is less of heavy wood and the collection itself is very
colourful.
Ikea has introduced collection of home accessories such as bedsheet,
bedcovers etc in Indian patterns. The company has brought in innovation into
the manufacture of handmade carpets with a new “punja" loom (Indian
weave).
v. Adapting to Indian ethnic group and climate Indian women are also
shorter than Europeans and Americans, so the company decided to
showcase some cabinets and countertops at lower heights.
c. Expectations of Competitor Retaliation
The Nearest competitor of IKEA, in India such as PepperFry is having a wide reach
and has an omni-channel framework to reach out to the last mile customer.
a. Shifting the Gear to Digitalisation To be readily accessible to many people,
IKEA adopted a true omni-channel approach. This means the big stores and
small formats in the big cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru and then also
having an online approach.
b. Due to globalization and more and more people exchanging/ travelling across
the world, the brand awareness of IKEA is not unknown. Conversely, IKEA’s
reputation in India is perceived as average, but at the cusp of being strong
17 Seminar Paper BDIM January 2020