A new e-commerce platform from IKEA Saudi Arabia will help
regional customers get furniture products from the popular Swedish store
directly to their doorsteps.
An Oct. 12 press release covers the pilot program, which
is now active in select cities, and will later be expanded to include the
entire country.
The new service also provides for the setting up of specific
delivery dates for customers. This new online service will add to the convenience
of getting IKEA furniture shipped anywhere in Saudi Arabia. IKEA will work with
major regional credit cards like Sadad to offer secure payment solutions.
Customers in Saudi Arabia will still have the option to go
to brick and mortar stores in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran, stores that exemplify
IKEA’s “self-serve, self-assembly” concept, an idea that’s popular with thrifty
DIY buyers around the world.
“Saudi
Arabia has been one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the MENA
region,” Faisal Al-Gain, country marketing manager at IKEA
Saudi Arabia, said in a press statement. “Due
to boundless technological progress that we have witnessed during this day and
age, it is only right for us to keep reinventing ourselves and the experience
we offer our customers as we are continuously committed to creating a better
everyday life for the many people.”
Media spokespersons for IKEA Saudi Arabia and media
relations managers from Memac Ogilvy PR declined to provide comments by press
time; but, in comments on Oct. 28, Dr. Timothy Derdenger spoke to Gulf News
Journal about the kind of strategy it takes to get such e-commerce operations running and make them effective. Derdenger is a professor
of marketing and strategy at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business.
One of the issues with this type of new e-commerce project,
he said, is brand awareness.
“Getting customers aware — through organic means — is probably
what they’re striving to accomplish,” Derdenger said.
While IKEA has lots of brand awareness in the U.S., Derdenger
suggested it may be different in other global markets, and the strategy may
differ as a result.
As for the expansion of IKEA’s e-commerce service into Saudi
Arabia, Derdenger said it makes sense for companies with bricks and mortar
stores to add online purchase functionality.
“E-commerce is very beneficial for firms which offer
products with characteristics that are easily evaluated before purchase, as
consumer do not have to rely on traveling to stores to experience the good,”
he said. “Given the sheer number of these products offered by IKEA, and
the fact that consumers are becoming more comfortable with online purchases,
it’s not at all surprising that IKEA has moved forward with expanding its e-commerce platform to other international markets, such as Saudi Arabia.”
