Marketing Strategies and SWOT Analysis of IKEA

It is very important that the environment that we live in is comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. Why comfortable? Because we wake up in the morning, drive to work, and have a long and exhausting day. Then, a major thing that is in our minds is the comfortable couch in our living room. Now, why aesthetically pleasing? Well, what we see externally inspires who we are internally. If the room that we are in is messy, so are our thoughts. On the opposite, if the room is tidied up, our thoughts are organized as well. Well, for achieving all of the mentioned you have to get furniture and home accessories. A good store to choose for that is IKEA. In the following blog, we are going to talk about the marketing strategies and SWOT analysis of IKEA to find out why it is such a desirable store.

To start off, let’s discuss the mission and vision statements of IKEA.

Here is the Vision statement of the brand. “to create better everyday life for the many people”. From beds and mattresses, organization appliances, rugs, décor, to furniture, the brand provides everything you can think of to make your life a tiny bit cozier.

Again, it is something that matters so much because what we see affects our everyday mood immensely. In the morning, getting out of bed and feeling a fuzzy rug under your feet is nice. So is having lights in your kitchen that make it more enjoyable to cook. It is interesting how such simple things mean a lot to us.

Now, time for the mission statement. “Our business idea supports this vision by offering 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.”

You can always be a company that offers many good quality products and have high prices for them for obvious reasons.

But it should be taken into consideration that targeting as many people as possible is also a key factor. Having average prices attracts more customers. What this company is doing is putting out there a wide variety of products that is available for many people.          

And now, let’s focus on the positioning strategy that IKEA uses.

To get a clear understanding of it let’s look through and analyze one of its Instagram posts.

The caption of the post is trying to communicate that even making pickled vegetables can be a quick and easy mission if you use IKEA products. Haven is a restaurant where lunch and dinner are served.

When we swipe right, we can see what kind of clothing the lab workers wear, and the containers that they use. In the final photo, we see everything in action. A couple of staff members in the food lab making pickled veggies. The very beginning of the caption also mentions that there are different kinds of foods available by the store.

This brand is not trying to make people feel different.  It is actually quite the opposite. It stands for making people feel in the comfort of their homes. It produces items that almost everybody can get, making it seem normal that it is okay to not stand up in the crowd.

We all use everyday home products, and so we all are similar in some way. Now, what can we infer about IKEA after all of the mentioned in the previous sentences? That is right. The archetype that IKEA belongs to is the Everyman.

Additionally, let’s lay out all of the information that we have about the Everyman archetype.

Desire: to connect with others
Aim: show you understand
Strategy: be the best for a fair price

Let’s also look at the messaging levels of the archetype.

Level One: loneliness, alienation
Level Two: the orphan, feeling abandoned and alone, seeking affiliation
Level Three: the joiner, learning to connect, fit in, accept help and friendship
Level Four: the humanitarian, believing in the natural dignity of every person regardless of his or her abilities or circumstances.

The Everyman archetype provides a good identity for brands:

• whose use helps people belong or feel that they belong
• whose function is something used commonly in everyday life
• with pricing that is moderate to low (or that is an upscale version of a product that would ordinarily be inexpensive)
• produced or sold by a company with a down-home organizational culture, and
• that want to differentiate themselves in a positive way from a higher-priced or more elitist brand

Moving forward, let’s get into the SWOT analysis of IKEA.

Strengths

Market research: The brand is well aware of what its customers want. They want a good balance of affordable furniture and home appliances. The sole reason that the company puts so much work and effort into putting desired products out there, proves that it is doing the right thing. 

Countless designs: The fact that the products are good-looking and aesthetically pleasing we are aware of. We can enter the store with things in mind that we want to buy. Look at their fully made versions. However, once we decide to buy a piece of furniture, for example, a bed, it is given to us in pieces. Because that way it is easier to transport and we can probably even be creative with it.

Affordability: what is more appealing than having good looking products that are at the same time pretty affordable? Think about it. If you have moved out for the first time and are buying your own home supplies it won’t be smart to choose super expensive things. Spend your money wisely and do not waste it when you do not have to.

A supplier’s dream: For the brand, it is smart to buy products in large quantities. It is cheaper than buying smaller quantities. It is beneficial for the suppliers as well. How so? Because they don’t have to keep large quantities of inventory in their warehouses. They know that IKEA can just sell them to people that need them instead.

Brand recognition: This company has over 600 million customers in a year and is available in more than 38 countries. This means that the company is one of the most famous furniture brands in the world.

Weaknesses

Bad press: There have been a few incidents where IKEA did not look good in the press. Along those are employees not being treated well, and its advertising techniques in nonwestern countries. Worst of all though, it has been called out for children being killed or hurt because of its furniture. This can lead to customer reduction.

Low quality: It is only understandable that if the prices are low then so is the quality. If higher quality was taken into consideration then more money would be needed. It would also result in more expensive products. This makes it possible for less affordable companies to thrive.

Opportunities

Few countries: There are about 195 countries in the world. Out of all of those, IKEA is available in only 38. IKEA can easily be smart and invest in more countries which will, in turn, guarantee more consumers.

Online shopping: Online shopping is becoming more and more popular as the years pass by. Especially nowadays, since there is this thing called COVID 19 that is making us stay at home. Not everything is available online though.

So, a good idea would be to put more stuff online. That way more people would shop from the brand. Also, some people find it more comfortable to online shop instead of going to the store.

Threats

Fast competition: Other big stores offer furniture products as well. One of those stores is Walmart. Although it doesn’t offer a wide variety as IKEA does, the possibility is not off the table.

Possible lawsuits: In our days, people can bring each other down without getting the law involved. Sadly, it could only take a social media post and a bunch of viewers to create a big scandal. However, lawsuits are still a possibility because of people that claim to have been injured by IKEA products.

Increase in cash: Cash becomes more available and the job market holds more opportunities. This means that if people have more money to spend, they are likely to get high-quality products. Which eventually can really decrease sales for companies such as IKEA.

Furthermore, let’s get to the segmentation strategy of IKEA.

In order to get better insights about it, a good idea would be to watch a short commercial.

 The commercial starts with showing an apartment complex. Then we see people living in different homes in the building. People going through their own phases of life. We see words on the screen that explain what a home should be like. Home should be somewhere where you feel welcome, safe, accepted. It should be somewhere where you can laugh and cry.

Somewhere where you can feel whatever it is that you are feeling without being ashamed. Somewhere that you are comfortable to be vulnerable. Home is not just a place. It is also the people that you surround yourself with.

The video is communicating that everyone regardless of who they are and what they believe in has the opportunity to feel at home in their desired place. 

We see that the apartments in the video are very simple. They have everything necessary such as a bed, a chair, a table, a mirror, and so on. Everything that we need in our everyday lives. There’s something more important than that to notice.

The people in the video are all very different. They are dressed and look different. It is because they are simply being themselves. And we see people being there for each other. Showing affection and love. All of this is leading to one inference. The segment that IKEA has chosen is Naysayers.

What do we know about Naysayers?

Lifestyle and values:

The segment views life very simplistically and cares about good living conditions. They do not know much about technology. Naysayers remain in their comfort zone, meaning that they don’t care much about career development.

Because of remaining in their comfort zones, spontaneity is not really an option for the segment. And also, they tend to dress in whatever they feel comfortable without following trends.  Family for them is also very important and their views are pretty traditional in a sense.

Naysayers are not leaders and prefer to work for others. Money is just a means of survival, so working is for the sole purpose of living. Their interests are not that impressive since arts, foreign cultures, or traveling are not in the picture.

Shopping preferences:

Naysayers like to shop for comfort not for the way that items look and don’t really care about brands. They don’t buy things without thinking about them twice, meaning that unnecessary products will never enter their home.

The segment is willing to shop from thrift stores and likes using discount codes.

Other interesting facts about the segment:

• Like to spend a lot of time at home
• Rarely go to social or sport events
• Like cooking, cleaning
• Do not have the money and comfortable level for pubs
• Prefer eating at home, the best food is mom’s food
• Avoid sports, but like a good daily walk
• Are not interested in arts or cultural events
• Music doesn’t play a big role in their life
• Read some very little and mostly unimportant information

To conclude, IKEA is a company that sells furniture and home accessories. It is a very successful and well-known brand. In this blog, we talked about the marketing tricks that it uses and analyzed the secrets behind its achievements. We have a ton of blogs about other brands, so if this got you interested, make sure to check out the main page of our website.