IKEA in China, Sweden and the UK
IKEA in China
For IKEA the step into the Chinese market was a big step, maybe as big at the first step abroad to Switzerland and the first store on foreign soil (Spreitenbach) in 1973
(Torekull, 1999). It meant entering China and its gigantic – at least potentially – consumer market. IKEA targets different group of people in China than in countries later in the IKEA ‘life cycle’ (i.e., life cycle based on how long IKEA has been on a market).
The main target group is female customers – 65 % of all customers. Women, according to IKEA, stand for change in China and they welcome change (and IKEA see them selves as providing the tools for change in at least one area).
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Men are also part of the target group but more indirectly as women are the ones in the family having home furnishing interest and making the actual decisions. Customers are aged 25-35 (the core customer is around 30). Many from IKEA’s target group are what in China is know as ‘the little emperors’: the generation born into the One Child
Policy (today 15-27 years old). This segment of the population includes some 30 million people. One of the characteristics of this group of consumers is that they are impulsive, easy to influence and are very social. And committed to foreign major consumer brands
(Gunnarsson, 1997). They are also known as the ‘the me-generation’ or ‘the lifestyle generation’ (e.g., Schütte & Ciarlatte, 1999, p 139),
IKEA’s customers are also well educated, living in big cities in China. With increasing salaries of the target group, the target group for IKEA increases every year.
The customer in China buys less when they visit the store than the IKEA average customer. But in Shanghai for example, the core customers visit IKEA more often than anywhere in the world: 33% come every month. This means – among other things - that there is a need for a lot of change in the store. The Shanghai store rearranges room settings at least seven times a year, for new product or
For IKEA the step into the Chinese market was a big step, maybe as big at the first step abroad to Switzerland and the first store on foreign soil (Spreitenbach) in 1973
(Torekull, 1999). It meant entering China and its gigantic – at least potentially – consumer market. IKEA targets different group of people in China than in countries later in the IKEA ‘life cycle’ (i.e., life cycle based on how long IKEA has been on a market).
The main target group is female customers – 65 % of all customers. Women, according to IKEA, stand for change in China and they welcome change (and IKEA see them selves as providing the tools for change in at least one area).
8
Men are also part of the target group but more indirectly as women are the ones in the family having home furnishing interest and making the actual decisions. Customers are aged 25-35 (the core customer is around 30). Many from IKEA’s target group are what in China is know as ‘the little emperors’: the generation born into the One Child
Policy (today 15-27 years old). This segment of the population includes some 30 million people. One of the characteristics of this group of consumers is that they are impulsive, easy to influence and are very social. And committed to foreign major consumer brands
(Gunnarsson, 1997). They are also known as the ‘the me-generation’ or ‘the lifestyle generation’ (e.g., Schütte & Ciarlatte, 1999, p 139),
IKEA’s customers are also well educated, living in big cities in China. With increasing salaries of the target group, the target group for IKEA increases every year.
The customer in China buys less when they visit the store than the IKEA average customer. But in Shanghai for example, the core customers visit IKEA more often than anywhere in the world: 33% come every month. This means – among other things - that there is a need for a lot of change in the store. The Shanghai store rearranges room settings at least seven times a year, for new product or