Ikea considers expanding to Chinese platforms

Ikea is looking to sell its products in China through existing sales platforms. Conversely, the chain will be developing its own digital marketplace for Europe.

Necessity

In the United States, Ikea is already partnered with Amazon, but now the company is also in talks with various Chinese parties to start selling its products. “In China, there is no way beside the platforms,” digital director Barbara Martin Coppola stated in RetailTrends.

The Swedish chain wants to maintain control over sales wherever possible, opting only for platforms in markets where it is necessary. The same is the case for the United States, where Amazon dominates the market – leaving few other options open.

Zalando as an example

On the other hand, Torbjörn Lööf (CEO of parent company Inter Ikea) has previously expressed his interest in a separate self-made platform for Europe. He was referring to a concept rather similar to Zalando‘s, where furniture by both Ikea and its competitors would be sold.

Nevertheless, Coppola maintains that brick-and-mortal stores will always remain very important to Ikea. “They are just an hour’s drive away from 90 % of our customers.”