Ikea will continue with its planned price cuts despite the ongoing disruption to the Red Sea shipping route pushing up costs, its chief executive confirmed this week.
Jesper Brodin, the boss of the furniture giant’s parent company Ingka Group, said the business had sufficient stock to absorb any supply chain shocks and will pursue its next round of price reductions.
Speaking at Reuters’ Global Markets Forum, he said: “Our commitment is to make sure that we prioritise investing in lower prices for our customers.”
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Last year Ikea said it would restart price cuts for customers as it looked to pass on cost-savings.
Brodin said that despite recent pressure, it still sees “quite significant deflation” upstream in its supply chain.
The chief executive shook off concerns that the decision might hurt profits and said “this is not a year for us to optimise profits”.
“This is a year to try to navigate on a thinner profit, but to make sure that we support people,” he said.
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