One day, a couple bought a EKTORP sofa from the IKEA store in Almhult. EKTORP is one of the most popular models but also one of the biggest sized sofa. But before they could enjoy it, they had to get it home - which was easier said than done.
Many people saw their struggle that day but one of them happened to be Jens Bengtsson, Product Developer at IKEA of Sweden. As he watched he thought, ” Here’s another return in the making. That sofa’s already taken a beating, but how’s it going to look after it’s been unloaded and carried up the stairs?” As a product developer he knew how important it was to produce quality products. As an IKEA customer he also knew the value of providing a quality shopping experience - from beginning to end. A trip to IKEA should be something you look forward to. EKTORP had to become more customer-friendly.
Source:
IKEA. (2011). Welcome inside 2011.
Hence, turning products into self-assembly items can make a customer’s life easier.
A signature characteristic of the distribution of IKEA products is the flat pack. It was around 1956 that IKEA first introduced the flat pack.
Source:
IKEA. (2013). IKEA Group Yearly Summary FY13
Vinu V Das. (2010). Information processing and management :
International Conference on Recent Trends in Business
Administration and Information Processing, BAIP 2010,
Trivandrum, Kerala, India
Mia Shanley. (2014). IKEA sales driven by chinese demand for flat-pack furniture. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/09/us-ikea-ab-sales-idUSKBN0H40HU20140909
Strength:
1. Before producing furnitures, IKEA ensures that
flat pack furnitures will be easy to assemble within a short period of time. In the case of Dassault Systeme, the CATIA application ensures rapid prototyping
Weakness: From the start, assembling furnitures by
yourself can be considered as a disruptive process in the furniture industry. Hence, not all consumers
will favour it. In the case of Dassault Systemes, engineers are familiar with drawings instead of using
digital mock-ups.
SERVICE INNOVATION #2:
Introducing Flat Packs
SERVICE INNOVATION #4:
Augmented Reality mobile Application
Even when you're armed with precise measurements, trying to imagine exactly how that stunning new sofa will look in your living room is not an easy task.
It will therefore come as no surprise that leading retailer IKEA has found that 14 percent of its customers end up taking home furniture which turns out to be the wrong size for its intended location. Thanks to augmented reality, IKEA customers can now try out select products in their homes with the help of a printed catalog, a mobile app and a smartphone or tablet.
Source:
Paul Ridden. (2013). IKEA catalog uses augmented reality to give a
virtual preview of furniture in a room
Each room set is designed to showcase how a completed room can look when furnished with items from the IKEA product range.
In this way, the IKEA showrooms can be seen as ‘experience rooms’, in which customers receive a ‘real’ experience before purchase. The experience rooms combine functionality with emotional involvement to create a favourable customer experience.
Strength:
1. Nowadays, the usage of mobile phone is prevalent hence customers will find this innovation useful because they no longer have to physically visit the IKEA store just for the sake of seeing furnitures
2. Increase the likelihood of getting the right
furnitures in terms of size and preferences
Weakness: Some customers might prefer it's
catalog over this augmented reality
application
SERVICE INNOVATION #3:
IKEA Showroom
Source:
Bo Edvardsson & Bo Enquist (2011) The service excellence and innovation model: Lessons from IKEA and other service frontiers, Total Quality Management & Business Excellence
Strength:
1. The size of IKEA showrooms are accustomized to mimic the room size of a general shopper
Weakness:
.1. It will be a hassle for shoppers if they only
need to purchase a particular item. In this
case, he would have to navigate through
the many showrooms within IKEA
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