IKEA is a Swedish manufacturing and trading group of companies, one of the world's largest retailers of household goods and furniture. The company's turnover in 2016 exceeded 36 billion euros. The company has been among the “Best Global Brands” for a long time (the average position in the ranking is 26th place), and in the latest ranking of the “Most Valuable Brands in the World,” IKEA took 55th place with a brand value of $18.08 billion.

The founder of IKEA is Swedish businessman Ingvar Kamprad. He was born into a family of farmers and spent his entire childhood working in agriculture. Members of Kamprad's family tried to run a business before him, but it did not bring any special dividends. But thanks to this, since childhood, Ingvar had a good understanding of trade. In his youth, he tried to sell matches and fish.

In 1943, having invested all his savings and borrowed money from his father, seventeen-year-old Kamprad opened an IKEA store., whose name is an abbreviation made up of the initial letters of his first and last name and the names of the farm and village where he was born and raised. The choice of the store's specialization was influenced by the situation in the country. Finding good and inexpensive household items, essentials and furniture was almost impossible.

History of the IKEA logo, image: ikea.com

Ingvar Kamprad started his career by selling small household items., and the first main model of the company's work was mailing.

One of the company's first advertising campaigns was on the verge of failure. Young Kamprad decided to take out a small loan and order ballpoint pens from France, which were in short supply in Sweden at that time. To quickly sell the product, he promised everyone who came to the presentation coffee and a bun. This proposal attracted more than a thousand people, which significantly exceeded the plans of the young businessman. Having spent a lot of money and invested a lot of effort, he fulfilled his promise. The presentation was successful and the product sold quickly.

Video: the amazing story of the founder of IKEA.

Stages of company development

First steps

Until 1948, the IKEA store was focused on selling small household supplies. During this period, Kamprad began to think about expanding his business. To expand the range, he decided to choose furniture that always has a stable demand. And at that time, inexpensive furniture was considered a scarce commodity. The company's expansion began with an increase in staff. Until this period, only Kamprad himself worked in the store. In 1948 he hired his first employee. By 1950, the company's staff already numbered 4 people.

At first the company focused on cheap furniture, which was made in small industries. Later, the approach was changed: it was decided to purchase parts and assemble the furniture ourselves. Thus, we managed to significantly reduce prices and gain popularity among customers.

In 1958, the first IKEA brand store was opened in Älmhult. Here, for the first time in Sweden, it was possible to try out furniture before purchasing. This marketing ploy greatly increased the store’s popularity.

Due to difficulties with suppliers, who were prohibited by competitors from doing business with IKEA, in the late 50s, I. Kamprad was faced with a shortage of goods for sale. To solve the problem, he decided to purchase goods abroad. He found all the necessary goods at factories in Poland and organized timely deliveries to Sweden.

By the early 60s, several IKEA stores were already operating in Sweden and Ingvar Kamprad began to think about entering foreign markets. It was decided to start in Norway and in 1963 a store opened in Oslo. And by the end of the 1960s, the first IKEA store opened in Denmark.

At the same time, tableware was added to the store's product line. Also, to reduce queues, work was carried out to optimize the number and placement of cash registers.

In 1973, to optimize taxation, the company's center was moved to Denmark.

The beginning of active expansion

Photo: pixabay

In the 70s, the company began active expansion in Western Europe: stores were opened in Switzerland, Germany, and France. In the late seventies, the world was presented with Ingvar Kamprad’s work “The Commandments of a Furniture Dealer,” which became a must-read book for all company employees.

In the early 1980s, the first IKEA stores opened in Saudi Arabia, China and Kuwait.

And in 1985, the brand entered the US market. The first store was opened in Philadelphia. Ingvar Kamprad had doubts about the American market, but thanks to the hippie cult popular at the time, IKEA's democratic and original stores quickly became popular.

In parallel with conquering new markets, the company expanded its product range. In the 1980s, IKEA introduced its first sofa.

In 1986, Ingvar Kamprad left his post as head of the company and became a consultant to the Stiching INGKA Foundation. Anders Muberg, who worked as Kamprad's deputy, became general director.

In the early 1990s, the expansion of countries in Eastern and Southern Europe began. The first stores were opened in Hungary and Poland, and a little later the company came to Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In 1996, brand stores opened in Spain. Also during this period, a set of rules was created regulating work in the company.

Work via the Internet

IKEA was one of the first major retailers to go online. The company's website, which talks about its philosophy, went live in 1997.

In 1999, the company's sales volume amounted to €6 billion. 20% of the volume was provided by stores in the USA and Asia. In this regard, it was decided to intensify work in these markets.

Since the early 2000s, IKEA has been actively working on the development of Asian stores and Internet commerce. The first store in Japan was opened in 2006 and the chain began to quickly develop using standard technology. The Chinese market, on which great hopes are pinned, did not conquer immediately. The first stores opened in the early 2000s brought losses. Only after changing the concept for this market did the Chinese chain of stores begin to develop. Today it has about 10 stores.

Video: see with your own eyes how production is organized at IKEA.

IKEA in Russia

IKEA's first attempts to enter the Russian market date back to the late 1980s. Ingvar Kamprad personally negotiated and planned to create an entire furniture production complex in the USSR. But a final agreement was never reached.

The company returned to the Russian direction in the late 1990s, and at the beginning of 2000, the first store was opened in Khimki. Investments in the project amounted to about $200 million. On the first day, about 30,000 people visited the hypermarket. The opening of the second store attracted more than 50,000 visitors.

By 2008, there were 11 brand stores in Russia, and in 2017 there were already 14.

In September 2016, IKEA launched Russia's largest furniture factory. The volume of investment in this project is estimated at €50 million.

Main competitors

Globally, the Swedish retailer has virtually no competitors. In certain regions and areas they compete with IKEA JYSK, Metro Group, Leroy Merlin and Hoff. Only JYSK, which operates in the same segment as IKEA, can be considered a direct competitor. Metro Group, Leroy Merlin and Hoff have a wider product range than the Swedish retailer, so they partially compete with it.

IKEA today

Today IKEA is formally a Dutch company. The country of registration was changed in 2012 to optimize taxation.

In 2016, the company's revenue amounted to 36.4 billion euros. Today the company operates 389 stores around the world, which are visited by more than 900 million visitors per year. IKEA has 183,000 employees.

The priority direction of the company's development is online sales. IKEA is developing a modern technology platform that should stimulate sales growth in this segment.

Significant hopes also rest on the Chinese market, which has not yet been fully developed and has significant potential for growth.

We decided to figure out where to buy furniture if the Bedinge sofa makes your head look like an Expedit shelving unit, and we found five alternatives to furniture from IKEA.

Top 5 Best Selling
IKEA models:

Sofa “Monstad”, RUB 19,999.
Sofa “Bedinge”, RUB 11,999.
Bed “Hemnes”, RUB 22,999.
Frame for the Pax wardrobe, RUB 3,800.
Working chair “Vingar”, RUB 2,599.

Five stores where you can find analogues of these models

Hoff furniture hypermarkets

Quite Scandinavian minimalism at the same prices,
just a little more serious

Sofa “Marika”, RUB 14,990.
Sofa Nevada, RUB 3,990.
Wardrobe hanger, RUB 1,990.
Swivel chair Star, RUB 2,490.
Bed “Indigo”, RUB 3,990.

Hypermarkets sell furniture, decorative items, lighting, textiles, dishes and generally everything you might need in the home. There are now five stores operating in the Moscow area. Unlike IKEA, products from different manufacturers are collected here - from Germany to Japan. At the same time, they approach the selection of the assortment wisely, so that there is no disagreement: next to a minimalist chest of drawers you will hardly find a baroque chaise longue. It is best to look here for furniture, decor and accessories for modern and functional interiors. However, even if you have a weakness for Provence, there are sofas with pastoral upholstery.

Furniture factory "Stolplit"

Budget Russian manufacturer with acceptable
design and profitable promotions

Corner sofa “Victoria”, RUB 19,770.
King sofa bed Moderno Ashy, RUB 8,990.
Bed “Mowgli”, SB-2076 8,850 rubles
Wardrobe "Terra", RUB 4,490.

The network sells domestically produced furniture, and is very attentive to its pricing policy. Stores regularly hold promotions where sets are sold at half the original price (until October 31, they offer to buy a kitchen for 3,990 rubles, a bedroom for 8,990 rubles). You can find everything from a wardrobe to an apron with a potholder. The manufacturer is trying to please the mass buyer, so the style is a little lame. A convenient search on the website saves the day: you can choose an interior based on the preview. So there’s no need to guess whether a jazz-style bedroom is more like Miles Davis or Larisa Dolina.

Furniture company "Shatura"

A brand with half a century of history and great
range of furniture for the middle class

Corner sofa “Mod”, RUB 26,850.
Sofa bed A61-01.K5L, RUB 10,600.
Wardrobe-rack, RUB 3,800.

At a local factory, cabinet furniture is made from laminated chipboard, which they themselves are very proud of. Of course, this is not a solid piece of wood, but the material is environmentally friendly. It is curious that IKEA orders from Shatura the production of a number of models from its range (for example, shelving). So it’s easy to find analogues of some Swedish developments in the factory’s stores. In general, the chain has a fairly wide selection of light-colored furniture without unnecessary details, but from time to time the carved headboards of airship beds still appear. You can buy banquettes, hangers and, for example, mattresses at Shatura, but it’s better to look for decor and accessories somewhere else.

Online furniture store HomeMe.ru

Online hypermarket for large production of upholstered furniture

Sofa “Atlanta”, RUB 19,990.
Sofa “Amsterdam”, RUB 17,990.
Chest of drawers "Melbourne", RUB 2,790.

The company has its own factory, online showcase and store in the city center, on Timur Frunze Street, where you can touch everything with your own hands. The assortment is not entirely homogeneous, but there are interesting solutions, such as a wall in the living room in the form of an iPad. The shelves are even called “Stockholm” and are decorated with Ikea horses: secondary, but patriotic.

Home decor store Fancy Home

Decor shop in case you're not happy with something
Zara Home or H&M Home

Liquid soap dispenser, RUB 2,310.
Scented candle Belle Fleur, RUB 5,290.
Happy Birthday Cow, RUB 2,250.

Quality designs are still expensive (Novaroom, Storystore, etc.) and are good for big parties. Otherwise, dishes, textiles and storage boxes filled the entire Internet and shelves in offline stores. So you just need to choose the point of sale that cooperates with official representatives of the brands: so for your money, at least it will be an original coffee pot, and not a Chinese copy. Fancy Home has a good selection of home accessories, kitchen utensils, cute items for the bathroom, beautiful storage baskets for the nursery and original lamps at reasonable prices.

The IKEA company is well recognized all over the world, including Russia and other CIS countries. Most buyers rate its products positively. However, for various reasons, many are also interested in alternative brands that compete with IKEA.

Despite the fact that the Swedish company is a stable market leader and, despite the difficult economic situation, is actively developing, many companies with a similar focus are striving to win their “piece of the pie”. This is no coincidence, since the market for home goods and interior design, including furniture and accessories, is very large and generates significant profits.

IKEA supermarkets in Russia

The first attempts to “enter” the Russian and then Soviet market were made in the 1980s, when the management planned to build a large furniture plant in the Soviet Union. For a number of well-known reasons, the plans of that time were never destined to come true. However, stores similar to IKEA were unable to take advantage of this delay, and by the end of the 1990s, this famous brand made a second attempt, this time successful. The first was a hypermarket in the Moscow region. Today there are 14 IKEA stores in Russia, and another one in (Lithuania).

In addition, the company has its own production in the CIS countries at several factories located in Russia and Belarus. All this speaks of the Dutch concern’s serious plans for the future. Yes, yes, exactly Dutch, because, although most buyers associate this trademark with Sweden, the concern itself has recently moved its place of registration to the Netherlands. According to market experts, this was done due to a more favorable tax regime in this country.

Alternative brands

Both in other countries of the world and in the CIS there are no direct analogues of IKEA. However, there are very similar brands and stores. The following are represented on the markets of post-Soviet countries:

• JYSK.
• Leroy Merlin.
• Hoff.

The most similar in assortment and even in design is JYSK (pronounced Yusk). However, the stores of this Danish company also have their own differences. Unlike the huge IKEA hypermarkets, JYSK prefers to open relatively small supermarkets. They are located mainly in residential areas of large cities. To date (2017-2018), this retail chain is not represented in Russia, although there have long been plans to open it. But it works successfully in countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova.

There are also no direct competitors to IKEA in Russia. You can name the companies Hoff, Leroy Merlin, Your House, but each of them only partially overlaps with the blue-yellow brand in terms of assortment. Their catalogs contain similar furniture, tableware, home and garden products, and so on, and they all also have regular price reductions, promotions, and discount sales. However, none of these chains is a direct alternative to IKEA, although they are all somewhat similar.

Competitiveness analysis of IKEA LLC

Organizational and economic characteristics of a trade organization

IKEA is a Swedish company that has been creating furniture and interior items of its own design for over 60 years.

One of the leading areas of activity of the company is currently the production and retail sale of furniture and household goods.

The main task: to satisfy the needs of all store visitors by offering products at affordable prices and providing good service.

IKEA's main mission is to change the everyday lives of many people for the better. IKEA's management achieves this through its core business idea - to offer a wide range of home goods of good quality and design at such low prices that as many people as possible have the opportunity to purchase them. Hence the IKEA motto - "More with less."

In addition to retail trade, IKEA provides the following types of services:

· Delivery service: If you do not have the opportunity or desire to take your purchases home yourself, we will help organize their delivery for a reasonable fee.

· Assembly: Depending on the amount of assistance needed, different types of services are offered - from simple assembly to complete installation of furniture and connection of built-in appliances.

· Consumer credit: For convenience, IKEA stores operate several credit programs that provide the most flexible and comfortable conditions for using bank credit funds.

· Restaurant, bistro and Swedish produce store.

· Apartment planning and design are provided.

· Sewing curtains.

· Parking for cars.

· Children's room

Form of trade service: self-service and full service.

IKEA of Sweden is solely responsible for the quality and competitiveness of all products sold through IKEA stores. Thanks to this approach, the necessary conditions are created to strengthen the company’s position in sales markets and ensure long-term profitability.

IKEA of Sweden's priority area is the development of its assortment strategy. IKEA of Sweden is responsible for the development of all IKEA products, regardless of where each specific product is produced, and supports the company's low price policy. After all, the basis for low prices for IKEA products is laid already at the development stage.

The company's responsibility also includes compliance with the environmental strategy at all stages of product development and production. IKEA carefully develops not only each product from its range, but also all the information on its production, procurement, transportation and sale.

IKEA is responsible for the choice of manufacturer, supplier and ultimately the long-term profitability of its product range.

Main range:

Accessories for furniture care

· Wardrobes and clothing storage

· Sofas, sofa beds and armchairs

· Mirrors and clocks

· IKEA for children

· Compact storage

· Beds and mattresses

· Bathroom furniture and accessories

· Furniture and accessories for office

· Floor coverings and carpets

· Lighting

· Crockery and cutlery

· Shelving and storage systems

· Textiles

· Decorations

The dynamics of balance sheet assets in the context of the main sections of the asset are presented in Figure 2.1, the dynamics of balance sheet liabilities are presented in Figure 2.2.

Rice. 2.1

Fig.2.2

Structure of balance sheet assets by main balance sheet items as of 01.01. 2012 is presented in Figure 2.3. The structure of balance sheet liabilities broken down by main balance sheet items as of January 1, 2012 is presented in Figure 2.4.

Rice. 2.3

Rice. 2.4

It should be noted that every year the balance sheet currency of IKEA DOM LLC increases. Thus, as of January 1, 2012, the balance sheet currency increased by 13.5% compared to the value at the beginning of 2010.

In the structure of balance sheet assets, the leading role is occupied by accounts receivable (48%) and fixed assets (40%). Balance sheet liabilities are formed mainly due to accounts payable (44%) and retained earnings (43%).

The analysis of the financial stability of an enterprise is characterized by a group of coefficients that are shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2 - Financial stability coefficients of IKEA DOM LLC

	Index		Deviation	Criterion value	Deviation from Criterion (2011)	Deviation from Criterion (2012)
	Autonomy (financial independence) coefficient
	Financial dependency ratio
	Financial stability ratio
	Financial leverage ratio (Financial leverage)
	Financing ratio (debt coverage)
	Investment ratio SC/Aw
	Equity agility ratio
	Permanent asset ratio (index)

The financial stability ratios of IKEA DOM LLC are also not sufficient, due to the rather large loan debt, but at the same time, financial leverage indicates the correctness of the company’s policy regarding the use of borrowed funds.

The dynamics of business activity indicators are presented in Table 3.

Table 3 - Business activity indicators of IKEA DOM LLC

Indicators			Change
Average annual capital, thousand rubles
Average annual amount of accounts receivable, thousand rubles.
Average annual value of material resources, thousand rubles.
Average annual equity capital, thousand rubles.
Average annual amount of accounts payable, thousand rubles.
Duration of turnover of total capital, days
Duration of receivables turnover, days
Duration of material turnover
Duration of equity capital turnover
Duration of accounts payable turnover

As is clearly seen from the data in the table above, the business activity indicators of IKEA DOM LLC increased in 2012. Table 4 shows the main performance indicators of IKEA DOM LLC over the past three years.

Table 4 - Main performance indicators of IKEA-DOM LLC

As can be seen from this table, the company IKEA-DOM LLC is increasing its economic indicators from year to year. Sales profit in 2013 more than doubled compared to 2012, balance sheet profit and cash proceeds increased by 50% and 31%, respectively. The cost of commercial products in 2012 increased by 8,919,432 thousand rubles compared to 2011, which is a 23% increase. The cost of fixed assets in 2012 decreased by 3%. We can conclude that there is a stable growth in key financial indicators with a slight decrease in the value of fixed assets. Further in Table 5 the efficiency of using fixed production assets is calculated.

Table 5 - Efficiency of use of fixed production assets of IKEA DOM LLC

From this table it follows that in terms of capital productivity and capital intensity, IKEA DOM LLC also shows positive results. Capital productivity in 2012 increased by 34% compared to the previous year. Capital intensity, the reciprocal of capital productivity, decreased by 24% in similar periods. Unfortunately, it was not possible to calculate the capital-labor ratio for the last year, since personnel data for these periods was not obtained. For 2011, this value amounted to 1,613.8 thousand rubles per person.

Table 6 - Profitability of activities of IKEA DOM LLC, %

Index	Calculation method (balance lines)			Deviation, (+,-)
Return on sales (R 1)	Krp= p.50/p.10 *100%
Overall profitability of the reporting period (R 2)	Box = page 140/page 10 * 100%
Return on equity (R 3)	K rsk = line 190*100%0.5 * (line 490 ng + line 490 kg)
Economic profitability (R 4)	K er = line 140*100%0.5 * (line 300 ng + line 300 kg)
Profitability of core activities (R 6)	Crod = p.50 / (p.20 + p.30 + p.40) *100%
Return on Capital Employed (R 7)	K rpk = line 140*100%0.5 * (line 490 ng + line 490 kg + line 590 ng + line 590 kg)
Payback period of equity capital (R 8)	K posk =0.5 * (line 490 ng + line 490 kg) line 190

According to the data from this table, all main profitability indicators of IKEA-DOM LLC are showing growth. Return on sales in 2012 was 13%, which gives a positive deviation compared to the previous year of 5.3%. Positive deviations are also observed for other profitability parameters, with the exception of the payback period of equity capital.

Competitive advantages

I believe that IKEA's most important competitive advantage in working on assortments is definitely the presence of an assortment matrix. Thanks to the fact that ten years ago four style groups were identified with a precise definition of how they should look, the company has three clear advantages.

First, as we have seen, it is quite easy for a business unit to find gaps in its own assortment and explain its wishes to the designer. In other words: “country” has many different incarnations on the market. Previously, in this segment, IKEA sold supplier signature models (products designed by the supplier itself and stocked in showrooms). Those with a good memory may remember the ABO series, which was represented by a bed, chest of drawers, bookshelf, etc. The inexpressive design and sparingly measured material to reduce the price naturally created problems. Every competitor worth its salt developed a copy of ABO, which soon had a negative impact on prices in a battle for buyers that IKEA could not win. Simply put, the concept of ABO meant that each furniture dealer consistently skimped on wood, color and upholstery to lower the price in the competition to be the cheapest. As the product became standardized, the only thing that differentiated one piece of furniture from another was the price. Pretty soon we found ourselves beyond the bounds of decency as the furniture increasingly resembled thin and skinny caricatures of the original. Not furniture, but sticks, as Ingvar somewhat disdainfully spoke about the series. (It should be noted that for over fifteen years the peasant furniture segment has been one of the largest in the entire assortment, if we talk about monetary turnover.)

To avoid the deadlock of ABO, we made a workaround and in record time launched two unique series within the “country” - LEKSVIK AND MARKER. MARKER series, developed directly at the factory Swedwood, went from an idea to a store product in just five months (that is, in about a sixth of the usual time). The reason for this, in addition to good cooperation, was the insufficient workload of the factory and the presence of a huge amount of spruce wood. At that time, spruce was much cheaper than pine, but the disadvantage was that spruce wood had many knot holes and other cosmetic defects, and therefore it was difficult to make standard furniture coated with clear varnish from this raw material. The problem was solved by cleaning, in particular, the glue seams, which made the surface look antique, and then impregnated it with a dark stain. Designers, product developers and technologists carefully examined every small detail to make maximum use of the material and thereby reduce the price for the buyer. The walls, of course, were made thin, but all the corners and the top were made of solid pieces of wood, so that the furniture gave the impression of being solid, stable and of high quality. The resulting purchase price was CZK 895, which is about a third of what a similar product would cost from competitors.

We were inspired by the Gustavian assortment for LEKSVIK, which we were winding down at that time. The bookshelves in this series featured attractive, softly rounded shapes, and designer Carina Beng retained them. At the first “washing council”, where a prototype from the model workshop was demonstrated, we all realized that this was a future sales leader. I will never forget how the purchasing strategist proudly said that we could easily handle the sales price of SEK 995. Quite spontaneously, I asked why we couldn’t produce this for 695 CZK with a small gross profit. The colleague turned red with irritation and said that this was impossible, and his reaction was quite understandable, since a lower price was not possible with the manufacturers with whom negotiations were held. After a few months, by attracting more producers in countries with low prices, and - perhaps most importantly - by doubling or even tripling the volume, we were still able to achieve a selling price of 695 CZK with gross profit of 10–20% in stores. When reaching a lower and completely unattainable price level for competitors, nothing in the quality, design or characteristics of the product has changed. It is precisely such elegant solutions that IKEA is distinguished by, when its mechanism works most harmoniously. Unheard of quality and attractive products at prices that competitors can only dream of.

Then what is the difference between ABO and products such as LEKSVIK and MARKER? ABO is a universal product, that is, very generalized in its implementation, while the design of the other two products is unique, or, in any case, almost unique. The only way to fight competitors using a product like ABO is to save on parameters and cladding. This product is simply not designed for anything else. As for LEKSVIK and MARKER, the low price was set at the stage of ordering the designer, and this low price was then embodied in the collaboration between skilled female and male professionals, factory workers from the best suppliers with the lowest prices that we could find at that time .

Even if it seems like a commonplace, you cannot borrow in the short or medium term. Over the years, IKEA itself has raised its prices so much that it has moved dangerously close to its competitors in order to achieve the profit level required by the Group of Companies. This means that the advantage once achieved is essentially zero. In 2008, a LEKSVIK bookshelf cost 995 kroons compared to 695 in 2001, that is, it became 43% more expensive. Of course, a lot can happen in seven years, but inflation has been fairly consistent at one or two percent. Naturally, market prices for wood followed oil prices and reached very high levels. Although wood prices have fallen again in recent years, IKEA has not brought its prices into line.

The same thing happened with kitchens, mattresses and wardrobes (I’m just mentioning them as an example). IKEA kitchens, whose prices are much lower than those of its partners, bring the company one of the largest gross profits with a difference of over 40%!

Secondly, thanks to the assortment matrix, it is, of course, easier for a store buyer when arranging a home to mix and choose from a coordinated assortment than from an assortment that appeared by chance. In addition, all color nuances are coordinated across all areas of the range, so that everything fits in each of the four style groups.

It is much easier for a product designer and his team to create beautiful, functional furniture if the playing field and rules of the game are clearly defined. Be that as it may, the premises were approved by IKEA's leading gurus in the field of home interiors. And the developer for the next few years does not need to either start from scratch or be one hundred percent knowledgeable in the color palette. All this is already on the desk.

Specifically this means that iOS has the ability to produce beautiful and functional home furnishings at a very competitive price. Already at the beginning of the process, the production team includes a purchasing strategist who cares about low prices. Thus, together the team makes a beautiful interior on the cheap. And this, as you know, is IKEA’s business idea.

The third competitive advantage that has definitely given IKEA the opportunity to get far ahead of its competitors is the annual cycle. iOS AB. The cycle describes, somewhat simplistically, the flow of decisions for the business year: what meetings will be held, when they will start, who should attend them, and what decisions should be made. The annual cycle governs all stages of the product development process from design to construction, production and commercial acceptance, both in the catalog and in the store. The annual cycle model captures everything.

This planning model achieves two things. All deadlines are met first. Being late or, even worse, missing a product launch deadline is a serious mistake that will undoubtedly affect the career opportunities of those who sinned. Secondly, various product development processes finish and start on time. If you sinned by promising something in the catalog, but failed to deliver it, it will come back to haunt you, and in the future you will face a serious crisis of trust on the part of management.

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Competitive Forces It is important to understand that in each of Michael Porter's five dimensions of competitive forces analysis (entry of competitors, threats of substitution, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and competition between

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Competitive advantages I believe that IKEA's most important competitive advantage in working on its assortment is definitely the presence of an assortment matrix. Due to the fact that ten years ago four style groups with precise definitions were identified,

From the author's book

Advantages The main advantage of such a remuneration system is that it allows salespeople to be required to perform various functions that are quite important for sales activities, but are not directly related to sales, for example, when the emphasis is on