Ikea in India

[Sushubh]

people are excited about new things. starbucks has seen these. Wendy's has seen this. on a smaller scale. people are not necessarily going to ikea to buy things. and ikea does not just sell furnitures. from what i read, they have thousands of items that costs below Rs. 200. so you go there and see what all is available. and maybe buy a few low cost items for your house to get a feel of the quality of stuff.

i would have done the same. i did the same with decathlon when it opened here in gurgaon. launch days are crazy. and then it slowly calms down. and even then weekends are crazy. ikea of course is on another level altogether. and when you know that they have internal food outlets... i can imagine going there just to have food because you know it would be better managed than an outsourced cafe coffee day at malls.

 

[dextermorgan]

^ Its basically in the middle of IT corridor so lots of people with disposable income. My friend asked me to come with him to buy a computer desk worth 11k similar to one which was selling for 37k from featherlite brand. so furniture is definitely cheaper imo

It will taper out within one month and then i'll give it a visit. motorised sit/stand desk is selling for 30k which is cheaper than local shops asking 37k excluding transport from warehouses.

btw starbucks is crowded these days during weekends its insane!

 

[Sushubh]

Source

 

[Sushubh]

In India, IKEA is overwhelmed by crowds at its Hyderabad store — Quartz India

 

[dextermorgan]

In India, IKEA is overwhelmed by crowds at its Hyderabad store — Quartz India

I've been there twice, yesterday and today. Yesterday it was empty in morning but by the time we left at evening 4, it was full with 1hr wait time at restaurant and 2hr wait time at entrance. Today morning I went to return a product and it was same thing too.

the restaurant and staff has made a lasting impression on all the people there. they were so professional and organised, its setting a new standard in indian space. I know I sound like a shill but thats true I've talked to a few swedish staff there today morning when I was waiting to return my stuff and they were fucking awesome and very excited to bring ikea to india. local furniture shops are in serious trouble if this continues

 

[Sushubh]

yeah. i mean i have not been to any ikea but i expect it to be on the same lines as decathlon (on a much larger scale i guess). my first visit to decathlon was quite eye opening. these european companies can definitely teach indian retail stores lessons on courtesy. now compare that to a visit to reliance industries owned outlet. ?

i really wish ikea was opening soon in gurgaon. i think the land they planned for gurgaon is still stuck in dispute so they have not even started construction yet. would have been going there just for food lol.

 

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[dextermorgan]

oh yeah, we hyderabadis have few dacathalons too Im a regular at decathalon for trekking and gym wear and believe me Ikea passed even them in customer satisfaction. both indian and swedish staff were extremely courteous even to few assholes and inspite of thousands of people visiting the stores in first few days.

and btw food was shit unlimited coffee/tea/ few fruit punches were good tho.

and also looks like ikea people hired urbanclap to offer home installation (even though ikea furniture is supposed to be assembled by ordinary people). swedish staff were quite against this apparantly but then they relented itseems. they want to bring the same culture of self service aka people assembling things by themselves. also people at ikea restaurant are supposed bring plates to counter aka self service aka clean up after themselves and people didnt complain at all. only other restaurant I saw self service and clean up is subway and even there many people dont clean up after themselves

 

[Sushubh]

yeah. i did read that they were going to offer assembling services here in india through an outsourced partner. though it remains optional from what i read. makes sense. we are not used to assembling/installing stuff ourselves.

would be interesting to see how long their staff remains courteous and excited

 

[dextermorgan]

its 900rs flat rate for delivery (any item any size to within city limits). shipping partner is gati. I think its 600rs for installation (im not sure, I assembled my table myself and it was done in 10 mins).

all this is waste of time if actual stuff is not good and believe me the stuff is really great. and affordable compared to local shops I got a manual sit/stand desk for 15k which is an awesome deal.

I think once euphoria is gone and regular shoppers appear, I think staff is gonna do okay. I saw many many window shoppers today so I think this will be the case for next 3~4 months. both indian and swedish staff were awesome and swedish staff are staying here for next 6 months apparently. if decathalon can do, I have no doubt ikea will too

 

[dextermorgan]

Im starting to sound like a shill so Im gonna stop