Ikano Retail, the IKEA franchisee that is bringing Swedish home furnishings and the world’s largest IKEA store to the Philippines, posted P42 billion in turnover in four markets during its last financial year, up 3.3 percent during the pandemic year marred by business closures and turbulent times for the company’s shopping center business.

IKEA

Ikano Retail is one of 12 IKEA franchisees around the world, with 11 IKEA stores and five IKEA-anchored shopping centers in its portfolio. It operates in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Mexico, and turnover from its IKEA stores contribute to the total result to be reported Thursday (1300 CET) by the global IKEA franchisor, Inter IKEA Group.

In the Philippines, Ikano recently started operating ecommerce, created its first IKEA pop-up at SM Mall of Asia and designed a reality TV set for a gaming program. The company said it will announce its opening date for IKEA Pasay City.

“We lost 17 percent of our trading days, faced the worst supply challenges in our history and contended with limits on food operations and further restrictions,’’ said Ikano Retail CEO Christian Rojkjaer in a statement. “But, even amid COVID, we executed expansion plans, grew our e-commerce sales by 57 percent and safeguarded jobs. Most importantly, we continued to help our customers make life at home better.”

Much of the growth comes from Singapore and Mexico where the company opened new stores. In Singapore, Ikano opened IKEA Jurong – Southeast Asia’s first small-format IKEA store, selling the full range through digital solutions and multi-skilled co-workers. In Mexico City, Ikano opened the first IKEA in Latin America and clocked almost 15 million visits to its IKEA Oceania store and website combined. Ikano also entered the home renovation and design business, with new IKEA Planning Studios in Thailand and Singapore. Ikano also relaunched IKEA for Business in Southeast Asia to better serve small enterprises in setting up Swedish-inspired office solutions, shops and more.

Ikano invested to defend its offer at Ikano Centres in Malaysia and Thailand, supporting its tenants through tough times and securing a healthy lease rate of 92 percent in a challenging retail landscape. “We made sure that our centres continue to be meeting places for the many,’’ said Rojkjaer, ‘’offering a safe and fun day out as our economies open up and learn to live with COVID.”

The company said that during a second pandemic year, many people turned to IKEA to set up workspaces, playrooms and kitchens.

For the September 2020 to August 31, 2021, IKEA Retail markets reported 113 million visits including 1 million from the visitors; online orders in the four markets up 64.5 percent compared to the previous year; and total e-commerce sales growth of 57 percent.

For the financial year, the company reported employing total workers of 4,321 across IKANO Retail, including 311 in the Philippines.


Source: Manila Bulletin (https://mb.com.ph/2021/10/14/ikea-posts-3-3-growth-in-southeast-asia-mexico-during-pandemic-year/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ikea-posts-3-3-growth-in-southeast-asia-mexico-during-pandemic-year)