Swedish home furnishing retailer IKEA has launched its app in India on iOS and Android in a bid to attract more customers to purchase its products. Currently available in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, and Baroda, the IKEA app will offer 7,000 home furnishing products, along with home ideas, product recommendations and personalization options.

IKEA in a statement said that the app also allows customer to add products to their shopping list even while physically browsing through the store.

The launch of the IKEA app is part of the company’s omni-channel strategy in India to reach more customers beyond Mumbai and Hyderabad where it has a physical presence currently. IKEA is also looking to add a new customer base, especially millennials and the younger population through the app.

“E-commerce is a very important business strategy for us. Earlier we said 15 percent of sales comes from e-commerce, but both on the backdrop of digital adoption and the launch of the app, we expect sales shares from online will be much higher,” Kavitha Rao, Country Commercial Manager, IKEA India told CNBC-TV18.

Apart from home delivery, the IKEA app also offers customers a ‘Click & Collect’ service where they can use the app for contactless shopping from stores in Mumbai and Hyderabad.

IKEA’s app launch also comes at a time when both its physical stores – in Hyderabad and Mumbai -- have been closed due to local restrictions amid surging COVID cases in the second wave.

Its business too, has taken a significant impact due to the closure of its physical stores, Rao said.

Once stores open, she says, to ensure safety IKEA will continue to put in place safety measures, and also restrict the number of people who visit the store.

However, Rao adds that amid the pandemic, the concept of a home has taken much more importance among consumers as they spend more time at home. IKEA, therefore, expects increased demand for home furnishing and hopes that once restrictions ease, the pent up demand will be able to balance out the current slump.

Meanwhile, the pandemic related restrictions and the hit on the furnishing retailer’s business may only slow down the timelines of the company’s upcoming stores but does not change any of its expansion plans for India, Rao added. IKEA is currently in the process of building its next store in Bengaluru, along with a smaller format store, which was planned to be operational by 2022.

“Importance of India as a country and expansion plans will not change due to short-term setbacks related to the pandemic. Some construction schedules in some markets are impacted because of the pandemic. We are hoping to be able to make up for some of the time. But one has to look at the long-term perspective and that is about presence in markets like Mumbai or Bengaluru, which we will continue to work towards and are very committed to,” Rao added.

IKEA India opened its first retail store in Hyderabad in August 2018, followed by online stores in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Pune in 2019. The second store in India opened at Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, on December 18, 2020.

(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)