Fewer car owners is a problem
“We know that car ownership is dropping especially in cities and we know we need to offer more services in order to get customers’ goods home. “We are trying to figure out what should be the best set up – I can’t commit to whether we are bringing delivery in house or not but we are working to ensure we give the customers the best customer experience”, country manager Gillian Drakeford told Retail Week.
According to Drakeford, two of every three Brits live a 40-minute drive away from an Ikea store, but an increasing number of them has no car, which makes it hard to take advantage of its Cash&Carry service. That is why Ikea is now considering a pick-up point service, even though it remains unclear how many Ikea will build and where and when.
Pilots in France and Germany as well
Ikea has been running a ‘Cliquez & Emportez’ pilot in Montpellier (France) for over a year now. It has been a success, because Stefan Vanoverbeke (Ikea France’s Belgian country manager), wants to expand the service to another five pilot stores, before implementing it in every French Ikea.
Ikea also has opened its first Citystore in Hamburg, Germany: altogether a pilot store focused on urban people without cars. According to Dutch Twinkle magazine, the city store will also become a pick-up point in the near future. “We will see how the store goes and decide whether there are possibilities to link it with the German web shop. It is definitely in line with Ikea’s multichannel strategy”, an Ikea Germany spokesperson said.
