IKEA says 'Hej Mumbai'...

Rain flooded streets, over crowded local trains, jam packed roads, inordinately high living costs - and yet Mumbaikars proudly call it 'Aamchi Mumbai'. But it wasn't any of the estimated two crore inhabitants of the financial capital of the country who declared 'You feel like home, Mumbai' on the front page of a national daily on Monday. Rather, it was the Swedish furniture maker, IKEA.

'Hej Mumbai!' read the following sentence in Swedish, meaning 'Hey, Mumbai!'. The familiarity and the emotions in both these sentences come from the almost two year long research that the brand did before finally being able to find 'home' in this city that never sleeps, inform sources. The full page ad, crafted by Dentsu Impact, announced the opening of IKEA's online store in the city – just over a year after the debut of its first store in India on 9 August 2018 in Hyderabad.

The print ad is however likely to confuse casual readers, who might take it as an announcement of an offline store launch instead of a dot com launch. Reportedly, Mumbai is the first city in the world where the multinational furniture retailer is going online without a physical store.

The online store in Mumbai with more than 7,500+ products, ranging from home furnishing solutions to electronics and more, will cater to all locations spread across the city. Mumbai will see a multi-channel offer including smaller format stores, and a big format store in Navi Mumbai.

The website of the Swedish furniture retailer now has a dedicated section for shoppers from Mumbai with a list of products available for delivery in the city. Unlike its competitors including Pepperfry, Amazon, Flipkart and Urban Ladder, the brand isn't offering free deliveries on the products. The delivery charges, starting from Rs 199, rise with the weight of the product, with deliveries arranged within a lead time of four to seven days after placing the online order - subject to availability and the distance from the centre.

In a press release issued by the brand, Peter Betzel, CEO, IKEA India said, “We are looking to inspire the many people of Mumbai to re-imagine their homes with affordable, simple, imaginative home furnishing solutions that are practical but at the same time also beautiful, multi-functional and sustainable.”

This however is not the first time that IKEA has drawn attention to itself by its communication. The brand is globally recognised for its great campaigns.

The furniture company also caught eyes with its quirky furniture manual called The IKEA Kåma Sutra, which featured its products alongside puns on various sex positions.

IKEA has been sourcing from India for close to 35 years for its global stores. In India, IKEA currently has more than 55 suppliers with 45,000 direct employees and 400,000 people in the extended supply chain.