A trip to IKEA is like a whole day out for the family but now the Swedish furniture giant is planning on doubling its size in Australia, with the introduction of 12 new ‘micro stores‘ with a smaller, simpler format.
These stores would be less than a third of the current hypermarket stores, which stand at 30,000 sq m, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
It is understood that the number of stores will almost triple from eight to 22 ‘over the next few’ years and an online store will be launched for the first time in 2017 in an attempt to reach more customers and simplify the process of obtaining ready-to-assemble furniture.
The retailer‘s new business model comes as Ikea marks its 40th year of business in Australia.
The IKEA mini marts are currently being tested in markets such as Spain, Germany, the UK and Tasmania and would enable consumers to buy top-selling products such as ‘Billy bookcases‘ and ‘Klippan sofas‘ in-store, and collect products ordered online from the dedicated Australian e-commerce platform
It‘s hoped the plan to boost the brand will more than double revenue from $733m in 2014 to at least $1.8bn by 2020.
