Letters: Ikea needs more than real estate for high street success
[Re: Ikea snaps up former Topshop Oxford St flagship for £378m, yesterday]
While Ikea’s takeover of Topshop’s iconic Oxford Street store seems like a no brainer in driving footfall and brand awareness, making it a success will require more than stocked shelves and Swedish meatballs. The pandemic has accelerated the shift from brick-and-mortar to ecommerce, with attempts to persuade consumers to leave their homes to shop in-store becoming increasingly difficult.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Ikea can drive sales in the post-pandemic landscape if it unites its offline and online strategies to create a truly omnichannel experience.
For example, the Swedish giant can use local inventory ads on platforms like Google Shopping to entice customers to nearby stores to check out products they had previously shown interest in online. They can also ensure that search campaigns are optimised for high intent search terms like ‘billy bookcase’ around specific products after they browse in-store.
If Ikea doesn’t unite their online and offline, then they will find that they follow the same path as Arcadia and Topshop. The former retail giant seemed invincible until the digitalisation of shopping and COVID-19 disrupted their business and made them irrelevant seemingly overnight.
Liam Patterson