After years of delay, Swedish furniture maker IKEA is gearing up to enter the Indian market, which it plans to disrupt with its diverse offerings – its first 400,000 square feet store in Hyderabad will also have other offerings other than furniture. According to a report on news agency Reuters, the Swedish firm is setting up its first-ever in-house assembly team apart from offering local delicacies such as samosas, biryani and veggie hotdogs.  

IKEA's finance head Juvencio Maeztu says that the first impression of the company is very important and has to be a hit among customers to reap long-lasting benefits and build good relations for further expansion in India.   

He said that the company is flexible and is open to tweaking some of its products to suit the country better. For instance, he explained that Indians like firm mattresses so the company is developing a mattress with a coconut layer as it also helps it stay cooler during the scorching summers. He assured that several such modifications will be prominently visible.  

Despite its plans to woo customers in India, there is one major hindrance according to experts. In India, the furniture business has always seen local dominance, especially from the unorganised retail sector, due to the door-step availability of fully assembled furniture. However, most of IKEA’s furniture is based on the DIY or do-it-yourself culture.  

Swedish furniture giant IKEA set to disrupt Indian market; to sell products at lowered rates

In order to bridge this gap, IKEA is assembling a DIY team of 150 members to help customers assemble furniture; it is also partnering UrbanClap, an app-based utility provider, for furniture assembly.  

After exploring almost 800 homes in India to see examine the lifestyle followed by people, it seems that the company is ready to make its grand entry in India and disrupt the market. Maeztu explained that the stores in India would also differ from each other, in order to keep the theme in line with a particular city. 

The Hyderabad store, which will open first, will have spacious room designs while the Mumbai store, slated to open next year, will pack a lot more products into a small space, thus representing the average household in the financial capital.  

Speaking to Reuters, Maeztu said, “You need to understand what life's about and then the range is presented to give solutions to the needs and frustrations.” In its store-cum-restaurant, IKEA will also serve food to tickle the local taste buds and beef would be kept off its India menu in an attempt to steer clear of hurting religious sentiments.  

Earlier, it was reported that IKEA plans to storm the Indian market with disruptive pricing as it has planned to introduce 1,000 products priced below Rs 200. It remains to be seen whether IKEA can have a ‘Reliance Jio-like impact’ on the Indian furniture market