在经济放缓与国内竞争加剧的大背景下，宜家（Ikea）决定在中国增加开设更多规模较小的零售店。宜家中国最大特许经营商的一名副零售经理在上海表示：“我们了解到如何满足客户的需求，并且人们对于家庭生活的追求不会因为钱包的变小而改变。”她并未透露具体的计划或时间表。
宜家在今年上半年已在西安和深圳试点了小型门店模式，其中在深圳设置为“Plan and Order Point”，提供一对一服务帮助顾客规划如厨房等复杂订单，在线送货或选择附近自提。一个300平方米的小型店面，仅为传统大型宜家店规模的十分之一大小。
近年来，包括国际品牌及本土对手在内，许多零售业者在中国遭遇了挑战，消费者购买力减弱的情况尤其明显，尤其是中国第二经济大国的房地产业持续多年危机对家具销售形成更大冲击。中国建材流通协会数据显示，在今年头七个月里，建筑材料和家居用品销售额同比下滑5.8%。
宜家近年来在中国的增长速度放缓，因为面临竞争加剧的问题。一些本土竞争对手提供全屋定制服务，其在线存在感与客户群覆盖范围均领先于宜家多年；例如 和 ，它们在发展线上渠道及市场方面比宜家更早且更广泛。日本家具零售商 则提供了更为丰富的商品选择，并快速扩张中国业务。
此外，还有众多小型国内家具店铺提供便宜的选项，在电子商务平台如 的拼多多上进行销售，对中国市场构成了威胁。宜家高管表示：“中国市场竞争极其激烈。”
Ikea于1998年进入中国，在当地拥有数十家门店。现今，它与其他国外巨头一样正在努力适应中国的零售环境，这更加拥挤且更为审慎。2023年初，宜家宣布未来三年将投资6.3亿元人民币（约合8620万美元），用于开设新店和改进物流，并计划投入逾65亿元人民币来引进数百种降价商品至中国内地门店。
Ikea正致力于加强其在中国的数字化策略，这是中国电商主导购物市场的背景下做出的重要决策。宜家目前在天猫官方店铺中运营，并通过微信及自有应用进行销售。
同时，宜家在全球范围内也正在实施缩小规模的策略，包括在巴黎的一个购物中心新开设的小型门店。该公司对南韩、 以及本国市场上的部分关键产品采取了10%至20%的价格下调措施，已将近1,000种商品价格降低，并在某些欧洲城市测试名为「Ikea Preowned」的二手物品在线交易平台，以方便顾客买卖由宜家制造的产品。
新闻来源：www.bloomberg.com
原文地址：Ikea to Test Smaller China Stores to Woo Shoppers as Competition Surges
新闻日期：2024-09-26
原文摘要：
Ikea will add more smaller outlets across China, as the furniture giant known for sprawling big-box stores experiments with more accessible retail formats amid an economic slowdown and surging local competition.“We have learned a lot about how to meet customers,” , deputy retail manager of , Ikea’s largest franchisee, said in an interview in Shanghai. “Even if the wallets are smaller, the needs of people are the same and life at home is important.” She didn’t elaborate on specific plans or a timetable for the new outlets. Ikea began testing smaller formats in the cities of Xi’an and Shenzhen earlier this year. Shenzhen’s store has been designated a Plan and Order Point, which offers customers one-on-one advice on how to plan more complex orders, such as kitchens, before choosing home delivery or heading to a nearby collection point. At 300 square meters, the outlet is about one-tenth the size of Ikea’s sprawling traditional stores.Foreign and domestic retailers have been pummeled in China as consumers pull back, with a years-long property market crisis in the world’s second-largest economy further hitting demand for furniture. Nationwide sales from building material and home furnishing stores fell 5.8% in the first seven months of this year, from the China Building Materials Circulation Association show. Ikea’s China growth has slowed in recent years as local rivals — many of whom offer customization services to fit out entire houses — surge. The biggest include and , who are years ahead of Ikea in building an online presence and reaching a wider range of customers. Japanese furniture retailer offers a wider range of products, and has been expanding quickly in China. A sea of small domestic furniture sellers also pose a threat, offering dirt-cheap options via e-commerce platforms like .’s Pinduoduo. “The China market is really a market where competition is fierce,” Del Fabbro said. Ikea entered China in 1998 and operates dozens of furniture outlets in the country. Now, like other foreign giants, it’s working to adapt to the more crowded, cautious China retail landscape. In 2023, it announced a 6.3 billion yuan ($862 million) investment in China over the following three years to open new stores and improve logistics, and has more than 650 million yuan to bring hundreds of lower-priced products to its mainland stores. The company will boost its digital presence, Del Fabbro said, in a country where shopping is dominated by e-commerce. Ikea currently has an official store on Tmall, ’s dominant online marketplace, and sells through ’s WeChat and its own app.Read More: The changes come as the flat-pack giant is also making changes in other parts of the world as consumers become increasingly price aware. Focusing on smaller formats is a global strategy, including a new smaller store that opened in a Paris shopping mall this month. Ikea is 10% to 20% price reductions for key products sold in South Korea, and has lowered prices on nearly 1,000 products in the and hundreds at home in . It’s also trialling online marketplace Ikea Preowned in some European cities, where customers buy and sell pre-owned items made by the retailer.
