Strengths: • Powerful brand image. • Wide range of products and styles. • Hip, Swedish designs. • Cheap and affordable. • Furniture is easy to assemble and ship. • One stop shopping. • Friendly atmosphere/store layout. • Facilities: restaurant/daycare center. • Strong global sourcing capabilities Weaknesses: • Assembling furniture yourself may be unappealing to certain groups of consumers. • Relatively few locations. • Store layout – a hassle for those who want a particular item only. • Swedish designs may not appeal to all American markets. • Advertising doesn’t appeal enough to target market (young people). • Furniture is not built to last a lifetime. © 2011 by Osama Albarrak. All rights reserved 8
Opportunities: • Untapped markets (Midwest, Corporate…etc.). • Educate consumers on IKEA thru advertisements. • Different type of stores such as outlets or high-‐end labels. • Increase online sales and Internet presence. • IKEA can expand into many more cities in the world. • Use the popularity among young people to expand to college markets. • Existing stores are few and large, new stores could be many and smaller. Threats: • Indirect threats from Wal-‐Mart, home depot, pier. • The global economic crisis. • Social trends – such as the slowdown in first time buyers entering the housing market. This is a core market segment for IKEA products. • Market forces – more competitors entering the low price household and furnishings markets. IKEA needs to reinforce its unique qualities to compete with these. • Economic factors –the recession slows down consumer spending and disposable income reduces.