How big is the average IKEA?

Trivia 17 of 30

How big is the average IKEA?

The IKEA effect

Have you ever heard of “The IKEA effect”? It’s the idea that people value things more if they’ve labored over them somehow. A study from Harvard Business School found that people were willing to pay 63% more for furniture that they had assembled themselves, compared to identical furniture that came pre-assembled (hbs.edu). In marketing and product design, this means that the effort consumers put into obtaining something transforms them into “co-creators of value” rather than just “recipients of value,” thereby justifying higher prices (hashtagpaid.com).

Effort as part of the IKEA marketing strategy

It’s not easy to simply run in and grab something from an IKEA. This difficulty is built in by design. IKEA purposefully forces you to navigate a pre-established, meandering route that takes you through dozens of beautifully staged spaces that showcase all of the company’s products. IKEA calls this route “the long circular way” and, although it might be annoying, it most definitely works at increasing sales (hashtagpaid.com).

Customers are encouraged to touch, handle, try out, and imagine themselves with each item on display. IKEA knows that the simple act of touching can increase one’s perceived value of a product (bbc.com), and handling it generates a psychological sense of ownership, making it even harder to put down (ucla.edu).

What is more, the non-linear layout of IKEA’s showroom means you are always in a state of moderate suspense as you round each corner. This serves to draw the customer gradually further into the store (sagepub.com).

More facts about IKEA you probably didn’t know

1. The word IKEA is actually an acronym composed of: Ingvar (the founder’s first name), Kamprad (the founder’s last name), Elmtaryd (the farm where the founder grew up), and Agunnaryd (the founder’s home village) (ikea.com).
2. Two thousand new products are introduced to IKEA’s range globally each year (idealhome.co.uk).
3. The IKEA logo used to be red and white, not blue and yellow (ikea.com).
4. The famous IKEA catalogue was first published in 1950 (ikea.com).
5. IKEA sells 120 million meatballs a year. The founder believed that customers who are hungry will get distracted by their hunger and leave, whereas customers who are full and satisfied will shop longer (amcollective.sg).
6. Germany has the most IKEA stores in the world at 53. The United States has 52 (as of February 2023) (ikea.com).
7. The biggest IKEA store is in Pasay City, Philippines. It measures 700,000 square feet, or over 12 football fields! (worldrecordacademy.com)