Ikea will open eight new stores this year in the smaller format that it debuted in Dallas in November 2023. Building off a $2.2 billion investment in omnichannel growth, the furniture retailer is planning seven new Plan and Order Point stores with pickup locations this year; the eighth store, in Santa Monica, Calif., will be solely a pickup point. At these stores, customers can book appointments with Ikea experts while they design, quote and order Ikea products, and Ikea can arrange for delivery or schedule orders for pickup.
Ikea has been adopting these new smaller store formats as it takes a larger role in last mile fulfillment, which a top Ikea exec said in July 2024 is critical to maintaining lower prices on its products. The retailer opened eight of these stores during its FY 2024, which ended Aug. 31, 2024, in addition to its existing 39 pickup points and 21,000 FedEx collection points across the country.
The new Plan and Order Point stores will be located in Cherry Hill, Pa.; Hunt Valley, Md.; Beaverton, Ore.; Scottsdale, Ariz. and in three California locations, in Thousand Oaks, Ontario and Colma.
Other major developments from Ikea’s FY 2024, which ended Aug. 31, 2024, include:
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- Launch of a Spanish-language website in July 2024;
- Reintroduction of new lower prices in November 2023, which Ikea credits with a 2.7% increase in the number of pieces purchased per basket;
- Introduction of a buy now, pay later program with Afterpay;
- Increase in products eligible for return and resale in its As-is section to 2,700 items;
- Use of electric delivery vehicles in 48 locations and installation of 374 EV chargers at Ikea U.S. stores, boosting zero-emission deliveries by more than 90% compared to FY 2023; and
- Developing a model home designed with trauma-informed principles at Ikea Live Oak in Texas.
During this fiscal year, Ikea showed its support for DEI initiatives by furnishing an LGBTQ+ resource room at Howard University in October 2024, and earlier this month Ikea expanded its partnership with Taskrabbit for furniture assembly services.
