Ikea winning hearts and minds

Ikea, the world’s biggest furniture retailer, has brought innovation to its products and store concept, among other industry milestones.

Its 361 stores worldwide ring in Є30.1 billion (US$33.7 billion) in global retail sales in 2014. Canvassing a total of 10.5 million sqm retail space, Ikea garnered 821 million visits to its stores.

When many shoppers are turning to digital, in contrast, Ikea stores continue to attract and pull in foot traffic. What is Ikea’s magic?

Simple, inspiring, honest

According to Johnson Kway, Ikea Singapore’s visual merchandising leader, “Firstly, visual merchandising should begin with the customer in mind. At Ikea, visual merchandisers not only understand design principles but we also understand shopping behaviour and, most importantly, we understand the needs and dreams of the customers.

“We conduct regular Life at Home surveys and go on home visits — so we understand people’s living situations, understand what kind of space they have and their style preferences. We learn about how different age groups shop, how children influence parents, how mood and economic climate influence purchasing and so on. This knowledge provides competitive advantage.”

With this deep understanding, according to Kway, Ikea can ensure that every single set-up for its display has a clear message that touches the heart of its shoppers and elaborates on the home furnishing solutions they want — or motivates them to make an impulse purchase. In short: it inspires people with possibilities for having a better everyday life at home.

Secondly, more retailers should recognise that visual merchandising is a key to productivity. All retailers are struggling with man-hours — and the more people are involved in active selling, the higher the staff costs. Good visual merchandising supports the more ‘mechanical’ sales system that is a key to the success of Ikea worldwide. Kway says that Ikea shows the width and depth of its fantastic range of home furnishing, and it makes its chosen products simple to find, choose and buy. That helps steer sales and also makes it easy for customers to help themselves.

At a technical level, Ikea displays its product range in a way that is aesthetic and commercial. Displays should appeal both rationally and emotionally. Ikea’s visual merchandisers achieve balance through use of colours, lines and shapes. It considers scale and surface, securing a mix of symmetry and asymmetry. The team usually ensures there is a golden section and optical centre to hold everything in place and secure balance and “comfort” to the eyes of its customers.

Visual merchandising presents a valuable opportunity to reinforce a brand’s identity. “Everything that is shown in the Ikea store influences the perceptions of the Ikea brand. Staying true to our brand values in everything that is communicated in an Ikea store reinforces people’s trust and confidence in the brand,” says Kway.

“Many retailers in the region favour fancy displays that grab attention with over-the-top visual loudness. At Ikea, we take a different approach. Visual displays reflect our Ikea brand values: Simple, inspiring and honest.

“We ensure every media in our store is like a “name card” — it presents us as a home-furnishing specialist, a consultant — a friend that you can trust and rely on when you are in need.”

Adds Kway, its visual merchandisers know that it is their job to be creative and brave when producing displays in the Ikea store — and sometimes that means that they make mistakes.

“That is encouraged at Ikea! It takes creativity and imagination to find surprising and new ways to inspire visitors. That’s how we as co-workers live our Ikea values on a day-to-day basis. We dream up new ways to make shopping at Ikea exciting, stimulating and fun.”

In terms of lighting, lighting completes a composition and ensures the store media is ready to achieve its fullest potential. Besides lighting up the store display and communication collaterals placed in the area, good lighting can also steer the eyes to a step-by-step approach as one gets into the media, so that nothing is missed out in the process. Lighting can also establish an emotional connection with the media.

“It can help spark a thought or confirm a perception in the customer so that he or she will think that the product in focus is more than just a basic necessity at home, but is actually a dream come true!” says Kway.

Other factors that affect visual merchandising are overall visual calmness and balance of the area, safety and strategic placement of media in key locations when working with store displays and presenting the range.