Furniture giant Ikea is all set to begin e-commerce operations in the National Capital Region (NCR) by the end of 2024. The home furnishing brand also plans to open two large shopping centres over the next two years according to a report by Mint which quoted Susanne Pulverer, chief executive and chief sustainability officer at Ikea India.
The Swedish company has invested Rs 10,500 crore in building five stores in India, apart from announcing investments in two large shopping centres with integrated Ikea stores.
“It has been wonderful to be able to open five stores in the last five years and now planning for opening in the Delhi market. First, we are planning with an omni-channel that is opening at the end of 2024,” Pulverer told the Mint.
Pulverer also said that the company plans to open its first ‘Ingka centres’—in Gurugram which will have an integrated Ikea store. She disclosed that this would happen two years from now.
Commenting on the store’s plans for reaching other parts of Delhi NCR such as Noida, Pulverer said, “There’s also a big project in Noida with the shopping centre and an integrated Ikea store.”
As of today, Ikea’s e-commerce operations are active in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Gujarat and Bengaluru. The Swedish company also has three big format Ikea stores in Hyderabad, Navi Mumbai and Bengaluru apart from two smaller stores in Mumbai.
Ikea has only just “scratched the surface” in India, Pulverer said and added that the retailer scans “all opportunities”, upon being asked about the Swedish company’s plans for Tier two and Tier three markets.
“There are many tier two and tier three cities that are very interesting. You need to take the whole setup into consideration…So we look at how we will continue to expand, we will continue to focus on the markets where we are and look at some new opportunities and take it step by step,” Pulverer said.