Tuesday 22 December 2015

IKEA designs products for today and tomorrow

IKEA's UK FB page has more than 1 million likes, its Instagram account has more than 100k followers, its Pinterest boards have 31k followers, and some of its YouTube videos/adverts have more than 1 million views.

This is a highly social brand that earns the loyalty of customers worldwide through well-designed, reasonably-priced products, delivered with quality service and sourced with sustainability in mind.

The home page of IKEA's UK site tells visitors: 'Welcome to IKEA. We believe everyone deserves to have a beautiful home filled with well-designed furniture. And still have money left over for other things to enjoy in life. That’s why we offer our home furniture at prices so low as many people as possible will be able to afford them.'

To keep IKEA's products both fashionable and affordable, the company develops 2,000 new products every year. It also redesigns 2,000 products every year, refining the style or finding new ways to simplify the construction or cut costs to cut prices. As a result, IKEA must carefully manage inventory and product display within each department and each store, changing 'according to consumer behaviour' based on data analysis from buying patterns and ethnographic research in customers' homes.

Preparing for the products and designs of tomorrow, the company maintains a future living laboratory known as Space10 in Copenhagen. The website explains: 'Space10 investigates the future of urban living through a series of labs. Each lab sets out to tackle a specific challenge, and unfolds through a number of talks, workshops, pitch nights, design residencies, exhibitions, collaborative projects, and other formats.' Space 10 is open to the public and holds workshops for all ages, so visit the next time you're in Copenhagen.