IKEA is considering launching their own marketplace to sell their own products and other company’s goods. The marketplace would sell products from IKEA and other retailers not just limited to furniture but also a range of home related products such as art and DIY.
We already know that IKEA has been testing selling on marketplaces such as Alibaba and Amazon and now they’re coming to the end of this test.
IKEA would like to partner to develop the marketplace which they say consumers will see in the next five to 10 years. IKEA currently aren’t in talks with any of their rivals, but they’re keen to be involved in setting up an industry-wide sales platform.
IKEA will see increasing competition with the lunch of Amazon’s own Scandinavian-inspired furniture brand Movian. Despite the design similarity of both Scandinavian brands, IKEA already differentiates themselves with some of the concepts they’re currently testing. These plans include leasing furniture, selling it on other websites and having city-centre shops as well as offering home assembly to their customers.
“What are the opportunities between the dominating, big, global platforms, and the company website? I think there are tons of opportunities. Like Zalando: they’re a kind of platform for fashion and clothes. I think it’s a very interesting area to explore. You like to control your own destiny so in that sense if you have the size and the possibility that’s true. I think in the next five, 10 years, we will see what we now call the platform developing.”
– Torbjorn Loof, chief executive, Inter IKEA
We have previously reported on the IKEA’s plan to start selling on Amazon back in 2017. With the news of IKEA planning to establish a home furniture marketplace would you sign up to sell on it?
4 Responses
With the news of IKEA planning to establish a home furniture marketplace would you sign up to sell on it?
Not my area at all. However her indoors is a dab hand at taking old furniture and restoring it to like new….I have the I have the ultimate shabby chic house, looks like we have spent a fortune but have not.
….and she has sold a couple of bits of Facebook…will all depend what they would let you sell, if it is just flatpack doubt it, but if they let you sell one offs and unique etc…
We are seeing real momentum building in companies or industry connectors who are exploring creating their own B2B and B2B2C marketplaces…so I believe you will see a lot of this type of initiatives take off in next 12 – 24 months…
…much more niched and more around connecting the buyer/seller to enable communication rather than punishing them like Amazon do!
This could be a good move for IKEA, especially if they execute it right and put good marketing money towards promoting the platform.
Furniture I think is a category that Amazon does not handle that well and IKEA actually stands a good chance of making something good here. BUT only if they do it properly, come with innovation, perfect technical execution etc. Will they? Very unlikely…their own website/shop is very basic.
They would need a strong and experienced partner to pull this off successfully!