Ikea Looks to Further Penetrate the U.S. Market

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Leading Through Strategy How Do They Do It? This case was written by Marjolein Vleugel at ESC Dijon Bourgogne for the purpose of assessment in International Marketing Strategy class by Mr. Scott Duncan. Leading Through Strategy How Do They Do It? This case was written by Marjolein Vleugel at ESC Dijon Bourgogne for the purpose of assessment in International Marketing Strategy class by Mr. Scott Duncan. Who are they? Since it’s inception in 1943, IKEA has always prided itself on providing low cost, qualitatively good furniture, which until today still maintains at the foundation of IKEA’s philosophy. Today, IKEA warehouses can be found in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, offering employment to approximately 123.000 employees in over 300 stores worldwide. Their three pillars of success? Operational excellence in production, supply chain operations and marketing, which according to Ingvar Kamprad (the founder of IKEA) enables them to continuously enhance their low cost/price model. Although the organization is still expanding, their entrance to the U.S. has been slightly hampered due to inconsistency between European and traditional U.S. furniture, and the mis-match between IKEA’s low cost philosophy and U.S. demand. This paper will therefore focus on how IKEA could meet U.S. customer demands in regards to quality, service and convenience whilst minimizing impact on their core concept. IKEA in North America IKEA’s popularity in Europe is easily traced back in their sales figures, indicating that roughly 80 percent of their total sales come from Europe, leaving a 20 percent share to Asia, Australia and North America. Entrance to the U.S. has been everything but smooth, but American sales figures have always maintained to stay in the “green” zone. Today, IKEA operates 36 warehouses in the North America, and is planning to open many more

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