“People’s interaction with the brand online is much higher, and that’s what we have started focusing on. Online channels also give us a way to better understand our customers before we open a store. So, when we open additional stores in Delhi, depending on the specific location, we will already have insights into the purchase patterns of people in those areas. These final nuances will also be reflected in the stores themselves,” explains Adosh Sharma, Country Commercial Manager, Ikea India, on why online expansion is a core strategy in a diverse country like India.For Sharma, who has been with the Swedish retail giant for over 15 years, the company’s entry into the Delhi market earlier this year didn’t begin with a physical store. Instead, it started with online sales, clearly signaling that the online channel is becoming the primary entry point offering conveniences like 30-minute delivery and one-click access. Customers can meet with Ikea design experts to plan and order furniture for rooms including Kitchen, bedroom, or living room. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)“It’s always online,” Sharma told indianexpress.com ahead of the opening of Delhi’s first offline store at the Pacific Mall, Tagore Garden. He said going digital-first is a long-term strategy the company is adopting to gain consumer confidence and build the brand in India.“The app contributes about 40 to 45 per cent of our total online business, and we expect that to rise even further because India is an app-driven market,” Sharma said. He added that around 60 to 65 per cent of online business in India comes through apps. “If you look at our overall sales, 27 per cent now comes from online channels,” he explained. All of Ikea’s 7000 products can be bought through its website.Also read | I tried the Sonos Arc Ultra and Sub 4, and here’s why they are the peak of acoustic engineeringIkea, the world’s largest furniture retailer, has taken a hyper-aggressive approach in India. It has worked with Indian suppliers for decades and opened its first local store in Hyderabad in 2018 after years of navigating the country’s foreign investment regulations. The Ikea cafe will be housed inside the West Delhi store. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)The company currently operates three large-format stores in Hyderabad, Navi Mumbai, and Bengaluru; one city store in Worli; one Plan and Order Point in Bengaluru. Its new offline store in Delhi, which also serves customers in surrounding areas, is not the large-format store the furniture retailer is typically known for.The new store, located in a popular mall in West Delhi known for its diverse mix of luxury and high-end retail, spans 15,000 square feet and will house 2,000 products. The West Delhi store features various room sets, allowing customers to visualise which furniture items they might want to choose for their homes, along with inspiration points throughout the space. It also includes a café inside the store that will offer signature dishes.Story continues below this adThe West Delhi store is located in a mall, which Sharma refers to as a “mall store,” where customers can experience the brand’s offerings in a more optimised space. He said the idea behind such stores is to create access and reach. “It’s not about choosing one format over another. We still have large stores. It’s a mix of large, medium, and small stores all coming together to create a very viable network of stores for customers,” he explained. Adosh Sharma, Country Commercial Manager at Ikea India. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)“Delhi maintains as one of the biggest market for us,” Sharma said. The retailer has plans to open large-format stores in Gurugram and Noida in the coming years.As Sharma has already pointed out, while the online business is key to Ikea’s presence in India, its offline presence is equally important. “When you look at home furnishing, you need to understand that there is a look and feel to the product, something physical stores can deliver much better than online. That’s why we always encourage customers to visit our stores and experience the brand firsthand. We want customers to touch and feel our products. We are a brand that will never say, ‘Please don’t touch this.’ If something gets broken, it’s sold, and that’s okay. We want customers to truly engage with and interact with our products.”Sharma was referring to the fact that, even though the company has fully adopted generative artificial intelligence tools and augmented reality as part of its customer experience and service strategy, nothing beats the physical stores and the way customers interact with the products in that space.Story continues below this adThat being said, the global furniture retailer doesn’t want to be left behind in the AI race and has joined other major retailers, including Amazon and Walmart. Ikea has introduced a new generative AI chatbot powered by ChatGPT, aimed at giving customers their own AI design assistant. The chatbot can answer questions about products and purchases, as well as provide personalised design suggestions. It can also be used alongside Ikea Kreativ, an online tool that allows users to visualise and design their own living spaces in a mixed-reality environment. The new store format is part of Ikea’s push to make furtnite shopping more accessible and convenient for customers in Delhi. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)As the world is fast adopting new tech and the model of selling is changing alongside with it, Sharma reminds that the furniture space is fast evolving. “If you look at Ikea’s product model, we don’t just create products to sell them. We start with our democratic design principles, which include five elements and the ‘why’ behind a product is the most important to us. You don’t create a chair just to sell a chair; you create it because there’s a specific function missing in someone’s home or life, and that purpose shapes the entire story around it.“We are not overly concerned with a product’s lifecycle in terms of trends, fashionability, or immediate salability. What we focus on is how long it will last, and how long it will meet a person’s need, fill a gap, or satisfy a want. That’s what defines the entire lifecycle of the product,” Sharma responded when asked whether customers replace their furniture as frequently as they do their smartphones. The new West Delhi store is Ikea’s first in Delhi-NCR. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)Internationally, or at least in most Western markets, Ikea is the first stop for many people after moving into a new home or when renovating an old one. However, in India, Ikea faces stiff competition not only from other branded furniture and furnishing stores but also from inexpensive, unorganised furniture makers.Story continues below this adAlso read | SAP opens new campus in Bengaluru, its second-largest R&D hub outside Germany“I think furniture is going through a similar shift…people are beginning to realise that furniture isn’t just something you place in a house and use; it also plays a key role in bringing the whole look together. That, I believe, marks a significant change, a paradigm shift, where people are starting to engage with home furnishing more as a part of their lifestyle. What I foresee is that in the next couple of years, people will begin changing their furniture more frequently. It won’t be about buying a chair to last 10 or 15 years; instead, it might be about using it for a few years, then recycling it and replacing it with something new.”