IKEA Customer Profile

2.4. Customers Profile

IKEA is well-known for its willingness to provide high quality products for all. One of the things which came back several times from the words of people from IKEA we interview at Paris Sud was like a motto: make the design from design more democratic and accessible to all.

Before analyzing the different customer targets of IKEA stores in France, we have to remind that if in France IKEA can be often seen as the cheapest furniture retailer available, it is not the case in the country where the founding family comes from. In Sweden, the will to have a socially and economically homogeneous society goes with the principles of the free-market economy. Consequently, it was much easier from a Swedish point of view to consider

Because of the size of the stores and for convenient reasons, IKEA stores are located in suburban areas which is also very convenient for low to middle income families living in the suburbs of big cities where the cost of rents are too high for them. This physical proximity is another argument to attract families to IKEA. During the interview, the person we talked with working at the restaurant explained us that some families come to the store only to have lunch there. The stores are often in commercial areas near many other shops and the restaurant is just another part of the supply in restaurants in the area. The restaurant is a success and many children enjoy them. It is also a way to promote the Swedish food and some meals are huge success. Families like to buy then at the grocery shop.

To improve the pricing conditions offered to customers, IKEA does not assemble the product itself and lets the customers do it by themselves. This is a part of the IKEA experience for families. First of all, kids can go the child center but they can also follow their parents and try and discover all the different pieces of furniture. Then, they can go to the IKEA restaurant or bistro. The last thing of the IKEA experience is at home when the products have to be assembled. Children can be parts of this task and got involved by their

Singles

The singles are also a good target for IKEA since they generally boast a good purchasing power. One salesman told us how some people had not always a good image from IKEA because of the movie Fight Club. In this film, Edward Norton is the main character and hates his job and his life. One scene focuses on the lay out and the design within his apartment. He uses IKEA products, which he decorates his whole place with, to show how his life boring became. He explains that all people tend to have the same products from the same Swedish retailer and are stuck in the same conformism.

But this image has changed a lot and IKEA has much attraction to young and dynamic singles from many different backgrounds and even for older single people.

For those who want to have a very well designed apartment, the cheap products from IKEA are a very good alternative. The two possible disadvantages for single would be the following: the waste of time incurred for singles in order to go to IKEA stores and choose the products as well as the waste of time incurred by the DIY concept, assembling all the parts of a product can be stressful and time-wasting for people who are not used to it. But IKEA tries to improve these disadvantages. For instance, the online shopping and the home delivery is much growing thanks to the efforts of the firm to improve these potential problems. To show how IKEA has become an important possibility for French people, some well-known people have often been