Report: Time is money with new Ikea payment pilot

Ikea customers in Dubai are receiving store credit for time they spend en route.

According to Forbes, the Swedish home furnishings giant is piloting a program called “Buy With Your Time” at its three stores in Dubai. The offering enables customers who visit an Ikea store to display their Google Maps timeline on their mobile device to checkout. Ikea then provides a certain amount of reward dollars they can put toward their purchase, based on how long the customer had to travel to reach the store.

Products on display in Ikea’s Dubai stores now feature “time currency” price tags. The amount of credit given for time spent traveling to the store is based on the average salary in Dubai. Reportedly, customers can receive store credit for all the time they have ever spent traveling to Ikea stores which can be verified via Google Maps.

"Before the birth of this campaign, we realized two things,” an Ikea spokesperson is quoted as saying. “Time is precious today, and many loyal Ikea customers spend a significant chunk of it visiting our locations, which are sometimes away from the city center. We think it’s only right to reward our customers’ efforts by repaying them for the time spent reaching us. It’s our way of helping the Dubai community make the most of every minute."

It is not clear if Google is an active partner in this promotion. To read the full article, click here.