IKEA India SeminarPaper2020 Shuporna MEM19 PDF
IKEA India SeminarPaper2020 Shuporna MEM19 PDF
IKEA India SeminarPaper2020 Shuporna MEM19 PDF
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Table of Contents
4. IKEA in India............................................................................................................................... 7
7. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 22
IKEA is known globally for its low prices and innovatively designed furniture. In India, it
ran into several problems, such as Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and setting up the
physical stores in the large country like India. This case study analyses how IKEA
adapted its strategies to enter in India and how it can expand in the country.
IKEA has considered doing business in India for years, having first established a
presence in 2007, only to run into a raft of regulations limiting foreign investment in the
country’s retail sector. This paper aims to capture the essence of India as a marketplace
and consumer psychology analysis, the growing purchasing power and rising influence
of social media have enabled Indian consumers, making India an aspiring emerging
market for global businesses.
Survey titled “What is the biggest barrier in doing business in the world market” figured
out eight problems which include “law, price competition, information, language, delivery,
foreign currency, time differences, and cultural differences”. In this paper we shall
analyse most of these factors along the lines of business strategies for IKEA
collaborating with the macro enviornment, and over all industry in India.
IKEA has been quite successful with its “one design-suits-all” global expansion strategy
in many markets. Anders Dahlvig, former CEO of IKEA, had once said, "whether we are
in China, Russia, Manhattan, or London, people buy the same things. We don't adapt to
local markets." Operating in a country with the culture base different from the corporate
culture could bring many challenges to new emerging markets.
IKEA, with the opening of its first store in India (in Hyderabad) has paved way for a
completely new experience in furniture market for Indian consumers. The purpose is to
reflect on how IKEA fits into the Indian consumer market, where future growth is likely to
emerge.
Ikea has over 360 stores spread out over roughly 50 countries. 2013 was a record year
for profits, with global sales coming in at almost 28 billion euros. While Europe makes up
most of the market for IKEA, the company has seen strong growth in North American,
China and Russia. The company is looking to expand further afield into new geographic
locations in the search for even more growth. IKEA wants to approximately double sales
by 2020 and one logical area to find new opportunities is in emerging markets.
In India, while the potential for over 1 billion new customers is attractive, there is also a
whole host of serious challenges that the company must face.
“To create a better everyday life for the many people“ with the vision of IKEA and the
business idea “to offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing
products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them”,
the company prides itself for working hard to achieve quality at affordable prices for its
customers through optimising their entire value chain, by building long-term supplier
relationships, investing in highly automated production and producing large volumes,
beyond home furnishing.
Globally IKEA’s policies and cultures are standardized. The strategic decisions are
centralized, they train their co-workers as per their policies. IKEA prefers communication
skills and organization’s ethics instead of academic qualifications. IKEA’s standard
values are - humbleness, equality and simplicity.
IKEA trained managers act as missionaries and spread the cultural values to coworkers.
There are more women than men working on the IKEA sales floors, and while the share
of women is slowly increasing in some management categories, the balance is far a far
fledged goal for them.
IKEA people are encouraged to be independent, willing to learn, willing to listen to others
and know how to transfer and share their knowledge to others while not feeling they are
any better than anyone else. In exchange, they are offered by IKEA a pleasant working
environment; job security and a caring attitude to employees IKEA believe in each
person’s ability to develop and grow – both personally and professionally.
Diversity and inclusion are essential for IKEA business success - meeting customers,
developing co-workers, and cooperating with their global business partners. IKEA culture
promotes togetherness and encourages an individual to add value to the team and to
trust their people and treat equally.
India is the 37th entrant amonsgt the countries IKEA is doing business with. While IKEA
operates through owning the stores in 24 countries, the rest are franchised or owned by
other business entities. However, given the complexities of setting up business in India,
as an emerging market, it was not wise to replicate the business model of other countries
to India. As the potential for over 1 billion new customers is attractive, there is also a
whole host of serious challenges that the company must face, this market.
The macro enviornment consists of broad enviornment factors that impact to a greater
or lesser extent many organisations, industries and sectors. Likewise, It is critical to study
the macro enviornment for IKEA in case of its presence in a country like India, which
comes with its own share of challenges and opportunities.
Each country is a strategic business unit in IKEA as they are all a part of the organisation
but for which there is a distinct external market for goods or services and distinct
competitors that is different from another SBU.
With PESTEL Analysis, which is a strategic analytical tool used to assess the impact of
external factors on businesses, we shall now asses the potential competitive advantage
of IKEA in India. There have six external factors that may impact theperformance
and affect the strategic development of the organisation.
Political
Economi
Legal
c
PESTEL
Enviorn-
Social
ment
Techno-
logy
i. FDI Limitations
IKEA tried to enter the country several times, but its attempts were thwarted by India’s
stringent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regulations. Until 2011, FDI in multi-brand retail
was forbidden by the Indian government and FDI in single-brand retail was permitted
only up to 51%. IKEA lobbied hard to persuade the Indian government for easing the FDI
rules in 2008, but the company failed as IKEA was clear that it would only enter India
when 100% FDI would be allowed.
In January 2012, India allowed 100% FDI in single-brand retail on the condition that the
retailer should mandatorily source 30% of their goods from India’s micro, small, and
medium enterprises (MSMEs).
With Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of India ranking 78, IKEA had to steer through
long and bureaucratic paper work for the sanction of the business in India.
Further, given the size and magnitude of IKEA stores other countries globally, in India
the entity struggled to establish its stores with the availability of retail space and its cost.
Economic
India recorded GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita of 2,717bn USD (ranking 7 th)
with an impressive PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) of 10,505 bn USD, by the end of
2018, making it an attractive market for IKEA. The growing size of the middle class in
India implies that there will be an increasing need of IKEA’s products.
Social
i. Population
India is the 7th biggest country regarding country size and India is the 2nd most
populated country (with about 1.3 billion people) in the World with a median age of 28
years, making it an extremely lucrative market for IKEA to make presence. The fact that
the new emerging middle class are more aware of their home design which presents an
opportunity for IKEA to expand.
Instead of Swedish meatballs, IKEA diners at the 1,000-seat restaurant replaced it with
chicken or veggie balls, dal and rice, or biriyani.
Textiles on sale in India, have brighter colors and busier patterns than in Ikeas
elsewhere.
Technology
i. On-line Sales
Given the long distances in the country, IKEA has plans to offer its goods online. Hence
it has tie-ups with Amazon and its own website.
India, having the 2nd most smartphone users across the globe, IKEA stands a huge
potential to tap the Indian customers online.
i. Electricity Disruptions
IKEA’s 2006 initiative of 100% renewable energy usage required its stores to be supplied
with either wind power or energy from solar panels. Its stores in Germany, France,
Sweden, and at forty more places used either power from their own wind turbines or from
solar panels.
Legal
In the last year, the Indian government has reversed two decades of steady tariff-cutting
and raised import duties on a wide range of items. With IKEA’s heavy dependence on
imported goods, this is a additional potential vulnerability.
There is No Restriction or limitation of minimum wages for employees. With the stipulated
amount of funds reserved for workforce they can employee more as there are educated
and competent workforce available in cheap.
No exposure or experience to
2nd most populous country DIY (Do-it-yourself) amidst
with the median age of 28 customers. hence tie-up with
years. Young population aseembers and delivery entities
making the products expensive.
High PPP, showcasing high
buying potential of the Modification of products
consumers in the market required due to difference in
culture ethnicity and beliefs
Enviornment friend Power
generation approach by IKEA Corruption
Forecast
IKEA was very clear on its strategy to enter India with the allowance of 100% foreign
direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail, it didn’t want to go down the joint venture
route. The emergence and rapid growth of e-commerce is all-the-more reason for IKEA
to see more of an opportunity in India. On one hand IKEA has to compromise on price
Since well-travelled Indians have known IKEA for a while now, with thriving Furniture
market in India, it is a promising business venture. India is a large and growing market
with the furniture industry worth $32 billion and projected to be double to $61 billion by
2023. Ikea has a huge potential to capitalize on this. But in the meantime, other Indian
players (such as Pepperfry and other unorganized furniture vendors) have effectively
held their ground by leveraging local knowledge and addressing the country’s
infrastructure challenges.
Further to analysing the macro environment for IKEA in India now, It is imperative to
analyse the key determinant of profitability by scrutinizing the extent of competition and
the strength of buyers and suppliers. Porter’s Five Forces Framework will help us
analyze and identify the attractiveness of the market for IKEA in terms of Five competitive
Forces –
IKEA faces stiff local competition from Pepperfry, India’s existing, largest online furniture
retailer and many local retailers like Future Group (Home Town), Landmark (Home
Centre), and Shoppers Stop (Home Stop) with Indian customer base. With the entry of
IKEA, there is hope that small and medium retail furniture market will get a standardized
structure and shape. The other already existing players may not be as big as IKEA but,
these players understand Indian customers very well simply by the virtue of being in
Indian market for long. Having developed trust factor amidst Indian consumers, the
existing furniture brands have a strong hold due to low cost of the furnitures,
Emergence of new entrant to compete with IKEA in not as significant as, the new market
entrants would not be able to benefit from the economies of scale to the same extent as
IKEA, at least during the initial stages of operations.
While Ikea has sourced cushion covers, rugs and other textiles from India since the
1970s, the country accounted for just 3 per cent of the company’s global supply chain in
2012. Traditionally, India has been supplying textiles, rugs and carpets to IKEA and
already had 48 suppliers in India. The company is getting carpets, pillows, mattresses
and even some of its popular Ektorp sofas from local manufacturers, which are also
being exported to Ikea stores elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East. Globally, Indian
suppliers sell about $400 million of goods a year to Ikea, primarily textiles.
Now the company is looking at new categories such as mattress, sofa and other furniture.
And it has already signed up sofa and mattress suppliers who have started exporting
India-made IKEA products to stores around the world. In terms of products, IKEA is now
looking at sourcing new materials from India namely Ceramics, Glassware, Wood,
Natural Fibres, Bamboo, Acacia, Eucalyptus, Metal etc.
IKEA is instead substituting furniture of latest trends in India. Through simplicity of design
and innovative technology, IKEA can follow any new style fairly well. IKEA also has
entered the Indian market after well-research and has many space saving innovative
furniture capabilities for Indian consumers, in much affordable prices.
Underlying Factors
No competitor as big as
IKEA existing in India Customised furniture
available
Stregths
Despite ‘globalisation’ being the most commonly used word in the business environment,
it is also one of the most loosely used word, perhaps they overlook the challenges and
pressures for the business being local and regional at the same time.
Ghemawat’s CAGE framework measures the match between INDIA and IKEA according
to four dimensions of distance. CAGE framework emphasizes the importance of Culture,
Administrative, Geographical and Economic distance.
a. Market Attractiveness
India is a culturally diverse country, home to over 1.2 billion people. Its dynamic economy
is projected to have real annual growth of almost 5.7% (at current rates, the country is
expected to Top 5 economies in the world). Strong economic development over the past
decade has increased living standards and created a vibrant middle class that is hungry
for consumer goods (there are almost 30 million Indians with a disposable income of
over US$30,000).
The retail industry is an extremely important part of the Indian economy, responsible for
approximately 10% of GDP and employing almost 8% of the population.
b. Institutional Voids
ii. Low Price IKEA is selling a product in India for less than it charges
elsewhere. Given India’s lower income levels, the store features hundreds of
products – from dolls to spice jars – priced at less than 100 rupees i.e 1.2
Euro
iii. Tailoring to local tastes For example, most Indians do not use knives to eat
and primarily want spoons, so the company ditched its children’s plastic
cutlery packs and instead sells four spoons for 15 rupees, i.e. 18 cents
And with children often sleeping in the same room as their parents until they
are in elementary school, its model bedroom squeezes in a child’s bed amid
all the other furniture.
Even the cafeteria caters to Indian tastes, with biryani, samosas and chicken
instead of beef Swedish meatballs (due to religious belief) on the menu and
1,000 available seats, more than any other Ikea in the world, to accommodate
the more leisurely dining style of Indian families.
Product range here is less of heavy wood and the collection itself is very
colourful.
v. Adapting to Indian ethnic group and climate Indian women are also
shorter than Europeans and Americans, so the company decided to
showcase some cabinets and countertops at lower heights.
The Nearest competitor of IKEA, in India such as PepperFry is having a wide reach
and has an omni-channel framework to reach out to the last mile customer.
5.1.2. Conclusion
IKEA is global brand, and needs to considers its opportunities and deal with its threats
to take advantage in this competitive market. In the Indian market it needs to face its
barriers but maintain pricing strategy 'technology' innovations as they can drive out from
these barriers (Robinson R, 2005). By considering both micro and macro factors IKEA is
able to generate the strong growth and keep hold on a strong identity in the market.
IKEA’s main domestic competition will be the thousands of tiny furniture shops and
roadside carpenters who build-to-order. There are only a few national furniture brands
and websites, in the country. The furniture market in India is largely (85%) dominated by
the unorganised sector, office furniture segment is one of the major revenue generators
of the overall furniture market in India, due to low cost, possibility of customisation and
long drawn trust among the customers.
PepperFry, is one of India’s leading online furniture retailing firms, which is one of the
fastest growing furniture companies in India. In this paper, hence, we shall now analyze
blue ocean strategy for IKEA India in comparision to the unorganised Furniture Market
in India and PepperFry, on the following parameters.
- Price
- DIY (Do-it-Yourself)
- Traditional Designs
- Contemporary and Modern Design
- Ease of Buying i.e. Online
- Availability of accessories
- Speed of availability
- Quality
- Brand Image
- Offering an experience – such as Food
HIGH
LOW
ELIMINATE REDUCE
DIY DIY (Do-it-yourself)
Price
CREATE REDUCE
Traditional Design Experience
To analyze the overall competitive advantage of IKEA in India, we now will analyze
through Porter’s Diamond Model.
Basis the above evaluations through business tools, below is the suggested PoA (plan
of Action), for IKEA in India. Here are the 6 P’s for IKEA in India
iii. People
• Middle Class- high incomes working class people, bachelors, young couples
etc
• Offer products to Hostels, educational institutes, Offices etc
• Knowledgeable and friendly staff, advice and assistance department
iv. Product
• Quality and Design
• Traditional Indian design combined with contemporary scandanavian design
• Availability of assembling Service
v. Price
• Low Prices- Cost concious people and low labour cost
vi. Process
• Product exchange/ Return policy
• Home Delivery
• On-line Buying option
• Efficient staff and customer service
vii. Promotions
• Moderate awareness about the brand already existing in the country
• Advertisemnet through all retail channels – TV, Radio, Newspaper and
magazine
I. Well trained and aware Labour Force. Just train them as per IKEA culture
II. Scaling down the Competitor
III. Gaining the trust of the consumers
IV. Accesibility to Ready-use-infrastructure
7. Conclusion
IKEA is currently standing as the leading brand name in furniture through their constant
innovations across the globe, which in itself is a crowd puller in a market like India, as
Indian masses are easily attracted by popular foreign brands in consumer goods and
retail segment. In addition, focus on expanding their omni-channel distribution strategy
which caters to the convenience factor of the Indian market along with positive publicity
to retain customers’ loyalty. This will aid increasing IKEA‘s customer baselines and help
them grab the larger pie in the Indian market. Most of the above recommended strategies
are undergoing implementation by the entity which may bear the positive results in long
run. Further, with the above strategies discussed, the standing of IKEA in the business
market would be heightened to a whole new level.
Competitive Characteristics of IKEA for India Financial Times. (2018). Von www.ft.com:
https://www.ft.com/content/81f6b6fa-9b78-11e8-9702-5946bae86e6d abgerufen
Unorganised Furnishing market WSJ. (2018). Wall Street Journal. Von WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ikea-lets-some-take-diy-off-the-table-1532338200
abgerufen