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Description
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
With more than 250 stores in 35 countries, IKEA (www.ikea.com) is well known for cool, stylish, affordable home furnishings. But for the past few years, the Swedish-based retailer has also been expanding into the small-businesses arena across the United States. The effort has been so successful, the company, which has U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia, Pa., is quickly rolling out its business services to 22 other markets globally, ranging from Australia to Russia to China.
A logical step
The small-business market was just waiting to be tapped by IKEA. "We realized we had vast numbers of small businesses already shopping with us, and it was a little embarrassing to note we didn't do anything to inspire them," says Astrid Oyo, manager, IKEA Business. "We wanted to do more for small businesses."
The IKEA appeal to women helped the retailer make the leap into the small-business world. "Amongst small businesses, we quickly discovered women-owned companies are a very dynamic subgroup. We have a great deal of women in our stores already, shopping for their homes; many of them have their own businesses or are in a position in a small business to make purchasing decisions. It made a lot of sense for us to become relevant to them," Oyo says.
A solution in three pieces
At the center of IKEA Business solutions is an interactive website, http;//business.ikea.com. It provides an array... |
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