Ikea to Try Selling Via Third Parties in 2018

This week, Ikea announced it's going to test selling products on websites other than its own. Reports say the move means Ikea's customer may soon be able to buy its flat-pack furniture and other home furnishings through the likes of Amazon.com or Alibaba. Torbjorn Loof, group chief executive for Ikea, said the plan is to start testing third-party marketplaces in 2018. "I leave unsaid on which (platforms), but we will test and pilot, to see ‘what does this mean, what does digital shopping look like in the future and what do digital shopping centers mean?’" Loof said. "There's a rapid change in the market where much of what we've learned and what we know of is changing radically."

Total Retail's Take: Selling its products on new e-commerce marketplaces is just one of the ways the Swedish retailer is trying to adapt to the ever-changing retail environment. In addition to selling on third-party marketplaces such as Amazon, Ikea is testing smaller-store formats and stepping up its integration of digital in-store as well as outreach to new customers online.