Ikea is losing customers around the world, and Russians continue to miss out Ikea's global sales fell for the third year in a row, Bloomberg writes. During the last fiscal year, they fell by a further 0.7%, and Inter IKEA Group's operating profit fell by 15% to 1.46 billion euros. IKEA attributes this to a difficult market situation and weak demand. The company has already cut 850 employees and continues to cut prices, but has not yet reversed the trend. Experts believe that the problem is not only in acquiring activity. IKEA is gradually losing its main competitive advantage: in the past, huge showrooms allowed you to buy everything you need for your home quickly and in one place. Now the same is offered by many online stores and markets, and with delivery. Alexander Shistkov, president of the Woods Furniture and Work Industry Association, believes that the development of online commerce has largely prevented IKEA from its former exclusivity. And the organizer of the former trade union, Alexander Alironov, mentions that IKEA is a complex structure of many legal entities, so when considering its financial results, it is important to take into account what indicators were published. In Russia, mainly IKEA products were replaced. Furthermore, a significant part of the Swedish brand's furniture was previously produced in local factories, which will continue to work under other names. Changing the products was easier than the brand itself. In the market, sellers use the name "analogue of IKEA", and on Avito, used furniture of the Swedish brand sometimes costs the same as a new Russian one. It's not just the furniture. According to a survey conducted by BrandLab in April, IKEA was ranked for the first time among the brands that brought back Russians. In October, the company extended the exclusive rights to the IKEA family trademark in Russia for ten years.

Ikea is losing customers around the world, and Russians continue to miss out Ikea's global sales fell for the third year in a row, Bloomberg writes. During the last fiscal year, they fell by a further 0.7%, and Inter IKEA Group's operating profit fell by 15% to 1.46 billion euros. IKEA attributes this to a difficult market situation and weak demand. The company has already cut 850 employees and continues to cut prices, but has not yet reversed the trend. Experts believe that the problem is not only in acquiring activity. IKEA is gradually losing its main competitive advantage: in the past, huge showrooms allowed you to buy everything you need for your home quickly and in one place. Now the same is offered by many online stores and markets, and with delivery. Alexander Shistkov, president of the Woods Furniture and Work Industry Association, believes that the development of online commerce has largely prevented IKEA from its former exclusivity. And the organizer of the former trade union, Alexander Alironov, mentions that IKEA is a complex structure of many legal entities, so when considering its financial results, it is important to take into account what indicators were published. In Russia, mainly IKEA products were replaced. Furthermore, a significant part of the Swedish brand's furniture was previously produced in local factories, which will continue to work under other names. Changing the products was easier than the brand itself. In the market, sellers use the name "analogue of IKEA", and on Avito, used furniture of the Swedish brand sometimes costs the same as a new Russian one. It's not just the furniture. According to a survey conducted by BrandLab in April, IKEA was ranked for the first time among the brands that brought back Russians. In October, the company extended the exclusive rights to the IKEA family trademark in Russia for ten years.