Report: IKEA to Focus on Stores, Not E-Commerce

New York City A memo circulated to IKEA employees in Sweden revealed a change in retail strategy for the company, according to Furniture Today.

According to the memo, which came from CEO and president Anders Dahlvig, IKEA will focus on the in-store experience as “the only sales channel,” putting a halt on “further investments to develop the home shopping or online sales channel(s).”

Mona A. Liss, a spokesperson for IKEA U.S. and a member of the company’s U.S. corporate public relations staff, confirmed the authenticity of the memo but said there are no plans to discontinue e-commerce in the United States, the report said.

According to the memo from Dahlvig dated Dec. 7, the focus on in-store efforts is the result of a decision from IKEA’s board, a decision based on the belief that IKEA “can give customers the best offer and the lowest price by making the range available only through IKEA stores,” the report said.