Ikea in India: more colour, less DIY, and no leather or meatballs at lifestyle giant’s first store – but will Scandinavian aesthetic sell?
Swedish multinational has had to rethink everything for a country where life is lived in the bedroom, small homes accommodate big family gatherings, customers are not used to self-assembly furniture, and cows are revered
Having scrutinised the interiors of 1,000 homes in India to better understand how Indians live, Ikea is finally ready to sell its wares in the country. But when the Swedish retailing giant opens in Hyderabad on August 9 (to be followed by stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore), it won’t be just about the usual flat-pack furniture that has filled the homes of millions of people around the world.
The chain will be trying to win over its newest market with more colour than usual, harder mattresses, alternatives to leather, foldaway items and service that appeals to a “do-it-for-me” culture: customers will be able to buy their kit ready-made.
These adaptations have been years in the making. In 2013, when Ikea first sent its top design executives to India to examine Indian lifestyles, it discovered, among other things, that Indians live in their bedrooms.
“The bedroom is … where much of the family time is spent – eating, doing homework, watching TV, hanging out,” said Mia Olsson Tuner, Ikea India’s country communication and design manager.
I was struck by how Indians eat together, anywhere and everywhere. It definitely made me look at a home in a different way
Ikea’s protracted research was a smart move, judging by the adjustments other foreign retailers have had to make to accommodate Indians’ distinctive habits: McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza, for example, had to adapt their offerings owing to religious sensitivities concerning beef and pork. Fridge manufacturers added locks because some Indians apparently didn’t want servants helping themselves to food.