Ikea rolls out generative AI shopping/design app

Ikea is personalizing furniture and décor suggestions with artificial intelligence (AI)-based visuals.

The Swedish home and furniture giant has launched the new Ikea AI assistant, which leverages generative AI capabilities to deliver highly personalized furniture and decor suggestions based on factors such as room dimensions, personal style, sustainability preferences, budget and functional requirements. 

The tool, available on the OpenAI GPT Store for U.S. consumers, enables users to: 

• Articulate their specific home design needs in conversational language and receive customized recommendations. For instance a customer could say, ‘’Show me a cozy living room layout for a small apartment with the use of sustainable materials.’’ 
• Browse the entire Ikea catalog across all categories to check products for their availability across different locations.  
• View design ideas, real life-home transformation stories from Ikea customers, and tips from furnishing experts.

Ikea intends to roll out the app in more markets where ChatGPT is available during the year. It has initiated an AI education program it says is focused on responsible AI development throughout the company, aiming to train upwards of 3,000 employees in 2024.   

“We are taking a pragmatic, execution-focused approach, learning by doing and capitalizing on our early efforts of a Responsible AI framework. We activated a broad ecosystem of partners to bring to life several experiments, so that we can take part in the AI evolution as we shape our company strategy.’’   

“The new Ikea AI Assistant on GPT Stores is an ongoing initiative, and the continuation of a journey that looks to enrich the retail experience and explore additional avenues to interact with our customers and coworkers, as they help us improve and develop further,” said Parag Parekh, global chief digital officer for Ikea Retail (Ingka Group).

In other technology innovation efforts, Ikea is in the midst of a three-year effort to invest more than $2.2 billion in its omnichannel growth strategy. The first phase of the initiative includes open eight new stores and 900 pick-up locations where customers can collect purchases.

In addition, it will open nine “Plan & Order points,” an extension of Ikea’s Planning Studio format, providing personalized assistance on home projects

With Ikea retail operations on 31 markets, Ingka Group is the largest Ikea retailer and represents about 90% of Ikea retail sales. Ingka Group owns and operates Ikea sales channels under franchise agreements with Inter Ikea Systems B.V. It has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres.