The One Marketing Rule That IKEA Ignored at its First Failed Entry in Japan
The word IKEA, despite how you may pronounce it, is a word globally known.
Ikea is a furniture retail company, established in 1943 in Sweden, by Ingvar Kamprad.
As of April 2022, there are 466 IKEA stores, operating in 63 countries. However, their expansion in another country wasn’t always smooth.
In 1970s, Ikea planned to open some stores in the Asian market, picking Japan as their first country to expand their brand. However, the vast differences in culture, lifestyle and behaviour was what made IKEA’s first expansion a big failure.
In 1986, Ikea had to retrieve their store out of Japan because of massive difficulties, only to reenter the Japanese market 20 years later, this time successfully.
It all starts from the internationalization strategy that a company decides. This is the deciding factor for success or failure.
The Background
IKEA’s top main features from its beginning until today are functionality, affordability and quality.
Their strategy of making furniture from other materials than wood, such as cardboard and plastic, and their low prices in comparison to other companies and their DIY aesthetic made them stand out…
