The Swedish furniture retailer IKEA had to accept a slight decline in sales of 3.2 percent in the past financial year. The total amount was thus 5.3 billion euros. That reported the “FAZ”. A fiscal year at IKEA always ends in August.
There are two main reasons for the decline. Last year, the 54 branches had to close for a total of four months in winter due to the anti-corona measures. As a result, sales in stationary retail fell by a quarter. In addition, global production and delivery bottlenecks have led to problems.
In view of the precarious Corona situation, further temporary store closings cannot be ruled out in the next few months, said IKEA boss Balslev.
Development at IKEA: online retail is booming, but competition never sleeps
IKEA has apparently been hit harder than other companies in the industry by this development. In addition to sales, they also lost market share. Online retailers such as Amazon or Otto were particularly able to benefit from the situation. However, the company wants to regain its market share in the near future and double it within six years. IKEA continues to invest a lot of money in this. 185 million euros were spent on new locations last year, among other things.
IKEA is making good progress in the online business in particular. Here sales could be doubled compared to the previous year. The share of retail sales rose from 16.2 to 34.3 percent.
In the coming year, however, customers will have to be prepared for price increases. This is particularly necessary because of the sharp rise in raw material prices for wood, metal and foam. Nevertheless, they want to remain affordable. IKEA currently employs almost 20,000 people in Germany. Despite the shop closings, everyone continued to receive their full salary. Short-time work was waived.