Guiding Lines: The IKEA Era

Retailers realize that in order to sell well it is necessary, firstly, to turn shopping into a pleasant pastime, and secondly, to demonstrate to the would-be buyer how happy they would be if they spent money on a particular item.

Those ideas, widely practiced today, were first proposed by a talented teenager from a small Swedish town, Ingvar Kamprad, back in the middle of the 20th century. Implementing those ideas made it possible for him to found IKEA, which was later to become one of the world’s leading retail operators and developers.

IKEA’s principles of organizing retail space and design have become a model for many retail property market operators. Spacious and filled with light, IKEA stores make buyers feel at home where each item is represented in the most advantageous viewing position.

While IKEA showed us which plates and dishes look best on a table of a certain type, many retailers today are ready to go much further in developing the idea. Nowadays, there are shopping centers in Europe featuring, for example, a swimming pool with a small boat manned by mannequins dressed in sailing apparel, in stores offering goods for yachtsmen.

Water is becoming an increasingly fashionable theme of shopping mall interiors in Europe. This is a part of a general trend – retailers try to create such an atmosphere in their stores that will prompt people to enter, even if it is only to spend a short time in pleasant surroundings.

Kamprad’s assertion that people seek out light has become the motto of designers and merchandisers across the world. All major retail operators install special lighting for the display of goods, colored lamps and ‘homely’ yellow light in their shops.

Articles on the repositioning of retail properties refer more and more to the example of IKEA. For example, the U.S. automobile concern General Motors is currently remaking its Hummer dealerships on the basis of IKEA philosophy in stores with plenty of light and air, imitating everyday scenes and domestic interiors.

Bernd Hallir, head of the European Retail Institute, puts the popularity of the Scandinavian style down to the fact that in today’s Europe it is much more profitable to sell a lifestyle and not merely goods. Retail managers and operators will earn more once they figure out what kind of audience they are targeting and then appeal to buyers’ emotions.

Moreover, the target audience should be defined not by the level of income alone, but also by personal preferences, such as whether a would-be buyer likes spending time with his children or prefers the company of adults, whether he is an urbanite or an outdoors-type, a home lover or a party animal.

European retailers are attaching more importance to a healthy lifestyle, emphasized through the use of natural materials, such as timber, wood shavings or even straw when fitting out their malls.

Grocery stores often adorn their display windows with fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as all sorts of grains and cereals. Another fashionable trend is the integration of high-tech designs in the interiors of malls. Particularly popular in Europe are plasma screens on walls, large posters and photos, highlighted walls and shop-windows… A store may also feature a dance floor and a D.J.

Each mall seeks to create a unique atmosphere for its premises. Each operator goes his own way – some plant old trees in the atrium while others cover the corridor floors with pillows where customers can sit and relax... As a result, the sums spent annually on the interior design of malls in Europe are constantly growing, says Hallir.

Russian retailers understand the importance of emotional comfort for customers. This year witnessed a real rash of re-branding, with companies pledging to spend hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars on it. The largest retail chains have already announced their plans to launch such projects.

As an important part of the process retailers are rethinking the design of their stores, seeking to make them “friendlier” and more individualistic. The Ekonika shoe chain, for example, plans to spend $5 million on re-branding. As part of the project, the company has even ordered a special fragrance for its stores that is supposed to make customers feel comfortable.