After years of trials and tribulations, IKEA will definitely have its own unique secret of success. In my opinion, the success of IKEA lies in that besides the cost-leading route represented by Wal-Mart and the brand divergence route represented by Sears, it has embarked on the third road: both brand and cost, and the brand and cost are appropriate.
First, independent brand development, absolute control of the brand.
For most retailers, the manufacturer brand is still the mainstream, and the middleman brand can only be a useful supplement, and it is absolutely impossible to "steal the limelight", whether it is Wal-Mart or Carrefour. This actually means that only the channels of the brand are controlled, but the rights and interests of the brand cannot be controlled. For example, Carrefour is indeed world-famous and makes people want to shop, but Carrefour brand sanitary napkins may be unknown, let alone attractive.
However, IKEA is not satisfied with just controlling the world's largest household product channel. It hopes that its brand and patented products will eventually cover the whole world. Based on this concept, IKEA has always insisted on designing all its products and owning its own patents. Every year, more than 65,438+000 designers work around the clock to ensure "all products and all patents". Therefore, for IKEA, there will never be so-called "upstream manufacturers" pressure, and no manufacturer can carry out so-called "distribution chain management" for him.
In a sense, IKEA is the only successful organization in the world that manages both channels and products.
Second, the "module"-oriented R&D design system IKEA's R&D system is also unique, which can combine low cost with high efficiency. Ikea invented a "modular" furniture design method, which can not only reduce the design cost (because basically every design can be manufactured), but also reduce the product cost (modularity means mass production and mass logistics).
IKEA's design philosophy is "the product with the same price will cost less", so designers often focus on whether to use a screw less or whether to use an iron bar more economically, which can not only reduce costs, but also often produce excellent ideas.
Perhaps IKEA is the only organization that can deeply understand "simplicity is beauty". It uses "simplicity" to reduce the cost of customers' profits and "beauty" to improve the value of customers' profits.
Third, strict OEM management measures
Although all the product design work is carried out by IKEA itself, in order to minimize the manufacturing cost, IKEA carries out manufacturing outsourcing on a global scale, and more than 2,000 suppliers compete fiercely for this every year. Only those suppliers who can achieve the lowest cost while ensuring the quality can get large orders, and these suppliers can't sit back and relax after receiving the orders, because IKEA will check them frequently.
In addition, IKEA reevaluates the performance of suppliers every year, and suppliers from countries with lower labor costs such as China keep appearing on its supplier list.
In addition, IKEA puts forward a fixed target to its suppliers to reduce production costs every year, so that its manufacturing costs will enter a virtuous circle of continuous decline.
Fourthly, a well-designed logistics system.
Logistics is originally a big item in the cost of household products, because transportation is really too troublesome, but IKEA not only improves transportation efficiency and reduces transportation costs through "flat packaging", but also saves a lot of assembly costs in assembly (IKEA does not provide assembly furniture products, but customers transport them home for assembly).
In order to further reduce the logistics cost, IKEA has concentrated nearly 20 distribution centers and central warehouses around the world in traffic arteries and distribution centers to facilitate the logistics contact with stores.
From real-time sales records provided by stores to product centers, to OEMs, logistics companies, storage centers, and back to stores, the whole logistics chain runs smoothly with the support of IT technology.
Fifth, let the price speak.
IKEA's channel strategy is absolute direct selling. In order to ensure the maintenance of product prices, sales records, patent rights and the amount control of the whole sales system, IKEA has always refused to wholesale its products, and does not provide any "profitable" services to large group customers. In addition, IKEA does not rent any of its own counters, and even the restaurant is made by itself.
At the terminal, as a low-cost leader, IKEA attaches great importance to the role of price in sales, and adopts a "soft sales" approach. "Experience Marketing" ...........................................................................................................................................................................
"Information Marketing" ...........................................................................................................................................................................
"Vivid Marketing" ..........................................................................................................................................................................
Unique strategies can produce extraordinary achievements, and the story of IKEA is a wonderful endorsement.