Preet Dhupar, CFO, Ikea said… “During the pandemic home became the most important place on the earth. It was not just a home but a playground and everything that could possibly be converted into…”
She added, “We believe we have a bigger role to play in this situation,”
Ikea expansion in India
After launching its first store in Hyderabad in 2018, Ikea India recently opened the 5.3 lakh sq ft store in Mumbai. Ikea has a plan to invest Rs 6000 crore in India by 2030. Ikea aims to meet 25 million people in Maharashtra and aim to provide over 6000 jobs.
“We hope that we will have higher sales in Mumbai than Hyderabad, purely because of the size of the market.”
With the omnichannel approach, Ikea is also planning small and large stores in Banglore, Gurgugram and Pune.
“We will have two more smaller format stores in Bangalore and Gurgaon and Pune.
We are also looking at opening stores in a few other cities.
Preet Dhupar, CFO, IkeaPolicy Changes
Ikea also highlighted the current structure of land acquisition and also pitched for National Retail Policy.
“We buy land and we believe there is a need to look at the prices and corrections in the real estate market. It does become very challenging for retailers to have returns on the investments they make in the market. Most of the time, the land parcels are directly acquired from the governments. There is also a need to look at how we really estimate the value of the land when in a situation where the country is trying to attract investment.”
Ikea’s India Focus
Since Ikea has set up two stores and a few are in the process, it has also increased its sourcing from India in different segments.
“To be able to develop such categories we need to have that raw material and we should support the production of sustainable wood. We are working closely with the associations and federations to push the manufacturing.”
We are working in different categories with Indian manufacturers. Currently, the local sourcing requirement is 30% but our ambition is to increase it to 50%. But it will take time to do that. It will take time to work with our supply chain. So we are working on what is required to do that, she added.
On the world and economy after the pandemic she said,
“It will take some time for the economy to come on track. People’s income will be affected and they will be more conscious about spending. We also see that life at home will play an important role and our focus is going to be on health and well being.”
