Looking at Omnichannel presence in India: IKEA

Swedish home furnishings major IKEA Thursday said it plans to have an Omnichannel presence in India going forward, reiterating its long-term commitment to the country. Last year, the company opened its first store in Hyderabad, spread over 13 acres of land and has a built up area of 4 lakh sq.ft. “We are long term committed to India. We are planning to have omni-channel presence here. We will have three formats — big stores, online and smaller stores here,” Peter Betzel, CEO, IKEA India said.

According to a report, the presence in three formats is to bring the customers closer, he added. The Hyderabad store is the first of 25 such outlets planned to be set up in India by 2025.

The company will be opening big stores in India, starting with a store in Mumbai this year, followed by one in Bengaluru in spring-2021 and then in Delhi-NCR, Betzel said.

However, he did not provide any timeline for the opening of the store in Delhi.

IKEA will have its online presence in Mumbai and will also expand smaller stores category there, he added.

When asked how the company plans to fund the expansion, Betzel said: “It will be through our own money.”

In 2013, IKEA received nod from the government to invest Rs 10,500 crore in single-brand retail out of which it had invested Rs 4,500 crore in its different ongoing projects in India.

IKEA has been present in India for 30 years, sourcing many different products for IKEA stores worldwide.