IKEA App Introduces New Feature to Listen to Swedish Product Pronunciation

IKEA Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of the Sweden-born home furnishing company with the vision of 'creating a better everyday life for the many people,' announced a new feature in the IKEA app that allows users to hear the correct Swedish pronunciation of IKEA product names.

IKEA products feature names derived from Swedish. For decades, many people around the world have had to guess how to pronounce names like POÄNG, KLIPPAN, and KALLAX.

IKEA has added a new feature to the IKEA app that allows users to easily confirm the accurate pronunciation of product names, making them feel more familiar. This feature is available in all language versions of the IKEA app except Swedish. By tapping a product name within the app, users can listen to the correct Swedish pronunciation on the spot. Currently, the feature is used by approximately 8,000 people daily worldwide.

IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad suffered from dyslexia and found it difficult to memorize numeric product codes. Consequently, he introduced a system of 'naming products.' This idea eventually evolved into IKEA's unique product naming system.

IKEA Museum notes that some product names can be difficult for non-Swedes to pronounce or understand, but this curiosity is precisely what makes IKEA product names special. Every year, dedicated naming experts devise names based on established rules.

For example, sofas and armchairs are often named after Swedish places, while bathroom supplies are named after lakes and seas.

The 'BILLY' bookshelf, launched in 1978, was named after Billy Liljedahl, who was the advertising manager at the time. The shark plush toy 'BLÅHAJ' is also loved around the world.

The newly introduced feature was born from a hackathon held by the app development team. Software engineer Filip Larsson recalls that it began when the team was working on the 'Nytillverkad' collection, noting that even within the team, coworkers were struggling to pronounce the name correctly. The feature was implemented through the passion and efforts of Filip Larsson and software engineer Valery Sokalau.

Since its launch in 2020, the IKEA app has reached approximately 8.7 million downloads in Japan.