IKEA Philippines to open e-commerce site ahead of physical stores

Good news for those itching to switch up or upgrade their home furnishings – sans the high cost. Swedish home furnishing brand IKEA plans on opening “web shops… months before physical stores.”

IKEA Southeast Asia and Mexico made the announcement in a release on Tuesday, October 6. The Swedish brand’s Southeast Asian and Mexico unit reported its first drop in revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

“The company is bringing Swedish home furnishings and meatballs to millions more people in the coming year as it enters both Mexico and the Philippines, with web shops opening up months before the physical stores in both countries,” said the IKEA franchise in Southeast Asia and Mexico. 

It did not say, however, when the online store would be live. The IKEA Philippines site has been live for several years, but currently only houses information about the brand in general.

The unit, which has 9 IKEA stores across Southeast Asia, reported P38.5 billion in sales from September 2019 to August 2020 – a 7.4% drop compared to the previous financial year.

IKEA Southeast Asia and Mexico said adding the income from its 5 “IKEA-anchored shopping centers,” the company posted P45 billion in sales, down P3.6 billion from a year ago.

IKEA Southeast Asia and Mexico said it was mostly able to continue commerce despite long closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“By the end of the financial year, customers had…rung up P5.4 billion in web sales – more than double the company’s e-commerce turnover from the previous year,” it said. 

IKEA was initially slated to open its first Philippine store – which would have been the brand’s largest – in 2020.

The franchise said the physical store is instead scheduled for a 2021 opening and that IKEA Philippines was “designed from the start to house an e-commerce fulfillment operation and a customer contact center.”

IKEA plans on opening IKEA Jurong in 2021, as well as e-commerce operations in Mexico City “soon.” IKEA Vietnam is also gearing up to “open a store in the years ahead.” – Rappler.com