With all the challenges presented to traditional brick and mortar stores by online retailers, thinking outside the box is becoming a necessity rather than a nice to have. Enter IKEA, the Swedish furniture giant who is a category leader and one of the most respected corporate entities in the whole world. From creating showrooms that presented products together, having a childcare center in all their shops, and ads that are often groundbreaking, innovation seems to be forged in their corporate DNA.
One of their recent breakthroughs is their special promotion for 2011 Fathers Day in Sydney. Inspired by one of their regular fixtures in all of their stores, SMALAND, which is an area dedicated for toddlers to play and get busy while their parents shop, IKEA set up an area for male shoppers called MANLAND. Essentially it is a “man cave” set up with video games, a large flat screen television playing non-stop sports, a Foosball table, and free hotdogs. To ensure that their partners don’t abandon them for too long, they are provided with a buzzer that rings after 30 minutes.
manland: the creche for blokes
Reactions to the promotion has been varied, from people hailing it as a grand innovation in retail, to some others who bash it because they feel that it is very sexist. While obviously any corporations who want to try this type of promotion need to take extra care that they are not stepping on too many toes, the fact that it started a conversation and buzz is definitely a success. Various media reported the promotion, and general reactions are positive.
i've been dying trying to find context to use this picture
Retail literature has shown that shoppers’ perception of the retail environment, e.g. store designs, product placements, general store atmosphere, have an impact on their shopping value and approach behaviors (Wang, Chang, and Wysong 2011). Retailers have long spent a significant investment in the designs of their stores (Kaltcheva and Weitz 2006), yet the result might not always induce a positive effect in consumers shopping behavior. This suggests that it is no longer enough to spend tremendous amount of money in designing your store, but it also has to have a shock value, something that the consumer has not seen before, and most importantly, something that they would enjoy seeing and experiencing.
Another important cue that IKEA is on the right track with their promotion is the fact that many consumers shop for hedonic reasons, going to the shops to have fun and incite pleasure. Arnold and Reynolds (2003) suggest that since hedonic consumers go to a retail environment to find a sense of fun, they are more likely to appreciate efforts done by retailers in creating an attractive physical design of the environment itself.
then again, "attractive" is quite relative
Store design or promotion such as IKEA’s MANLAND is just one factor out of many that will actually influence consumer’s shopping behavior, but it is definitely a step in the right direction in providing consumers with something that an online setting will never hope to achieve. Playing to their most important strength, their physical tangibility, and trying to innovate in this area is a move that many retailers might want to copy.
References:
Wang, L.C., L. Chang, and Wysong, S. 2011. An empirical investigation of the influence of optimum stimulation levels in retailing. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management 40(1): 6-20. Emerald. http://emerald.com (accessed March 29, 2012).
Kaltcheva, V.D. and B.A. Weitz. 2006. When should a retailer create an exciting store environment? Journal of Marketing 70(1): 107-118. Emerald. http://emerald.com (accessed March 29, 2012).
Arnold, M.J. and K.E. Reynolds. 2003. Hedonic shopping motivations. Journal of Retailing 79(2): 186-192. Emerald. http://emerald.com (accessed March 29, 2012).
IKEA is one of the most successful examples about traditional retailer innovation. It gives the other traditional retailers a good model that how to make innovation based on their own features. From the case IKEA, we can know that, traditional retailers should make some change to attract customer's attention, let consumers go to the brick and mortar stores purposefully.
ReplyDeleteShu, IKEA is definitely a very successful retailer, and is the envy of many others. I think it is just the way they do things that is so different from everybody else. While other brands might want to copy what they do, I don't think it is that easy.
ReplyDeleteFirst, they have a very strong brand culture, that is focused on cutting edge design and an innovative DNA. Secondly, they have the size and marketing budget that can literally drown the competition, in short they can afford to be different, and if some of the things they try don't work, they can survive it and come up with a better campaign.