Ikea India, the local subsidiary of Swedish retail giant Ikea Group, is finally entering the crucial north India market after a prolonged phase of planning and streamlining its local operations.
The company that started its physical retail journey in 2018 with its first store in Hyderabad, has since launched ‘the blue box’ (a typical Ikea store) in three other cities – in Navi Mumbai (2020), Mumbai (2021) and Bangalore (2022). However, the vast market in the national capital region of Delhi remained untouched, despite its business potential. That wait, however, is over. Starting 1st March, Ikea will be serving the region through its online ordering and delivery system.
Additionally, Ikea India will also be serving nine other major cities in north India - Agra, Prayagraj (Allahabad), Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, and Varanasi. To strengthen the supply chain, it has set up a centralised distribution centre in Farrukhabad (UP) that can serve the NCR and nine other markets.
But Ikea launched the e-commerce service in Mumbai and multiple other key cities in Maharashtra and Gujarat way back in 2019. Ikea already delivers to over 60 cities in India. Then why is this delay?
Well, Susanne Pulverer, Chief Executive Officer & CSO, Ikea India explains that in early 2010s, it was the importance of the market in the north that pushed them to plan meticulously – which took time. Take, for instance, Ikea takes nearly 3-5 years to come up with a store in anywhere in India as from physical surveys of city dwellers’ homes to laying down the supply chain network and designing a store consumes time.
There is another key reason, though. While Ikea waited for nearly 11 years since it first set up shop in India in 2013, its entry into the largest market has a blueprint for long-term growth. According to Pulverer, while entering Hyderabad, Mumbai & Bangalore was the first phase of Ikea’s India plans, Delhi-NCR heralds a new phase. “Our two NCR stores are coming up soon. Gurgaon store, inside an Ingka Center, is expected to be unveiled in 2026, and Noida a little later," Pulverer, who is associated with Ikea India operations since it was at the planning stage, tells Business Today.
The upcoming Ikea store in Gurgaon – located in Sector 47 on a 400,000 sq.ft. plot, which will also house the first Ingka Group mall (Ingka Center) in India and accommodate other retail and leisure brands. While the next project, in Noida Sector 51, will be measuring 200,000 sq.ft. and, like many Ikea stores in India, is located close to a metro station.
Additionally, to serve the Delhi customers better, Ikea is also planning a few (5-6) city stores – Ikea stores in smaller formats – in key districts like South Delhi. A typical Ikea store or blue box – like the one in Bangalore – measures about 400,000 square feet. In comparison, a city store measures about 60,000-100,000 sq.ft.
“This has been a missing piece in our India story. Now, it's our turn to reciprocate and we’ve been eagerly waiting to bring IKEA to North India. We are in phase 2 of our growth in the country and this launch across Delhi NCR and other markets will help us create a strong foundation for our future omnichannel growth in the region,” she says.
The next phase also involves rapid expansion in other parts of the country. Keeping an eye on the bustling market in Pune, Ikea’s next India store is likely to come up in the second largest city in Maharashtra. While Chennai is expected to be the next destination, Pulverer tells BT.