First IKEA City store to open in Jing'an
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IKEA City is set to open on Thursday.
Ti Gong -
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Sweden’s home furnishing retailer IKEA opens its latest store in downtown Jing'an District on Thursday as its latest move to stay closer to consumers after the launch of a Tmall store in March.
The first IKEA City store in China is a three-story, 3,000-square-meter outlet on Nanjing Road W. which is expected to attract office workers and more frequent visitors compared to other IKEA locations in the outskirts.
About 3,500 products will be on display with about 1,200 ready to take away and the rest, larger items, to be delivered later.
Scanning a barcode on the merchandise will allow shoppers to see details of the item and place an order.
IKEA has around 9,500 products available at its Baoshan and Xuhui stores and also online.
Last year, IKEA announced a 10 billion investment (US$1.41 billion) in its China operations in the fiscal year ending in August which includes upgrading its existing stores in the country while adding a network of smaller stores in central urban locations.
Accessibility and digitalization are two crucial parts for its China strategy.
“We're seeking to diversify store formats, including online channels as well, to complement each other in order to test, learn and gain feedback from customers to fuel future growth," said Francois Brenti, vice president of IKEA China.
IKEA's Yangpu outlet, which opened in March, is aimed at college students and young consumers.
Brenti said customers were visiting the Yangpu store more frequently to pick up smaller items.
At the Jing'an store there will be a set food menu for family shoppers and bento boxes for office workers.
"We have seen solid growth of online channels following the pandemic and we expect this to continue in the future," Brenti said.
Retailers are seeking to adapt to changes in local customer behavior to offer more flexible and diverse shopping experiences.
Costco, which opened its first physical store in Shanghai last August, first tested the waters several years ago with a Tmall presence. Walmart teamed with local on-demand delivery provider Dada Group to woo online shoppers.
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