Did IKEA enter India too late in its evolution? The company started in 1943 and was already in 50 countries. Should operations in India have started sooner? If you could decide for them, what other country markets would you have IKEA enter, and why?
To prepare Indian customers’ mindsets before IKEA opened its first store in 2018, the company unwrapped its first experiential center IKEA Hej (Hello) Home close to the IT hub of Hyderabad as a way to ingratiate Hyderabad customers into the IKEA model. How can this experiential model be used in other countries?
Entry into India has been a fascinating journey for IKEA, and a deviation from its normal Swedish-aligned business practices. Should IKEA become less Swedish when entering new international markets, as they did in India, or should IKEA stay Swedish as much as possible?