IKEA to invest KRW 1.2 trillion to operate a total of 6 stores in Korea by 2020
Plans to run ‘Happiness with KRW 1,000’ campaign in celebration of its first anniversary
IKEA had a successful start during the past year since its launch, posting sales of KRW 308 billion with its 913 co-workers between December 2014 and December 2015. The accumulated number of visitors of IKEA Korea stands at 6.7 million and 606,000 people have signed up for IKEA Family members.
André Schmidtgall, Country Retail Manager at IKEA Korea said that IKEA Korea will be opening a total of six stores in Korea, including the Gwangmyeong store, by 2020, investing a total of KRW 1.2 trillion during his speech at the conference. The new store in Goyang will open by the second half of 2017, with the site area of 51,000m² and the gross building area of 164,000m².
A study also found that customers who shopped at the IKEA Gwangmyeong store also shopped at other stores nearby. Findings from the research by the Korea Distribution Association based on credit card transaction data from December 2014 to August 2015 revealed that 75% of IKEA customers come from further than 10km and that 54% of IKEA customers also spend money at other stores within 10km. Also, sales of stores within 10km of IKEA Gwangmyeong store increased 7.5% ~ 27.4%.
André Schmidtgall said, “We are extremely thankful for the love and support that the customers have shown us and our theme ‘Living with Children’ since our opening in Korea. Korea is a great market with huge potential, with a growing customer interest in home furnishing,” adding, “IKEA Korea will continue to make investments in order to provide well-designed, functional home furnishing products at low prices, to create a better everyday life for the many people.”
Meanwhile, IKEA Korea is running ‘Happiness with KRW 1,000’ campaign to celebrate together with customers its 1st anniversary of the IKEA Gwangmyeong store’s opening. IKEA Korea will be donating KRW 1,000 for every purchase/transaction made in the store between December 18~20, 2015. The donated funds will go towards helping a children welfare facility located in Gwangmyeong.
IKEA Korea is also running the ‘Soft Toy for Education’ campaign until February 13, where IKEA Foundation will donate €1 to Save the Children and UNICEF for every soft toy or children’s book sold during the event period.
Nicolas Johnsson, Country Marketing Manager at IKEA Korea said, “We work together with customers to help our neighbors in need through various campaigns such as ‘Happiness with KRW 1,000’ and ‘Soft Toy for Education’. We will continue to provide support to the local communities we operate in as a good neighbor.”
Meanwhile, total revenue for the IKEA Group increased by 11.5% from last year to € 32.7 billion for the fiscal year 2015. IKEA Group net profit amounted to €3.5 billion, an increase of 5.5% compared to last year. Major investments were made to tackle climate change, such as in the shift to 100% LED in IKEA lighting range.