Hyderabad: Having battled multiple challenges in the Indian market since its foray with its flagship store in Hyderabad in 2018, Swedish home furnishings retailer Ikea is hoping to achieve operational profitability in its India operations in a couple of years, Ikea India CEO & CSO, Susanne Pulverer, said here on Friday.
The company, which has invested 10,500 crore in the Indian market so far, faced hurdles such as the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation hikes, disruptions in supply chains, and raw materials availability due to geopolitical tensions, as well as disruptions caused by the quality control orders (QCO) issued by the Indian govt in categories such as toys and stainless steel.
It is now focusing on affordability and stabilising operations to chart the next phase of growth in the Indian market, Pulverer said.
“There is a very clear plan on how we will do it…move to profitability while protecting affordability,” said Pulverer, indicating that the company prepared for the long haul when it entered the Indian market.
Pulverer pointed out that as part of this journey towards profitability, Ikea has also begun tweaking its India strategy in terms of optimising the size of flagship stores and shutting down stores like it did with the city store in R City mall in Mumbai.
The Scandinavian retailer is also looking at boosting its online sales, which currently account for 30% of revenues and has expanded its online delivery footprint, including to around 14 districts in Telangana, she said.
In FY23, the company had reported a loss of 1,134 crore with the revenue from operations at around 1,768 crore.
