〈Walking into China〉People Still Love Visiting IKEA, But No Longer Buying There

Once soaring in the Chinese market with its 'blue box' big-store model, IKEA is now undergoing a strategic restructuring.

Recently, IKEA's parent company, Ingka Group, has commissioned JLL exclusively to sell self-owned idle properties in eight cities: Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Harbin, Nantong, Xuzhou, Guiyang, and Ningbo. This marks the largest-scale disposal of self-held assets in IKEA's nearly 30-year presence in China.

The numbers tell the story best. In fiscal year 2019, IKEA China achieved a record-high sales of RMB 15.77 billion. By fiscal year 2024, revenue had dropped to RMB 11.15 billion—a nearly 30% decline over five years, with a 7.6% year-on-year drop.

Strangely, IKEA's offline foot traffic hasn't plummeted. Store visitor numbers have grown positively in 2025, yet total sales have declined for two consecutive years. On Douyin, the hashtag 'IKEA check-in' has garnered over 270 million views, but the vast majority are about photo guides, ice cream reviews, and warehouse photography tips—less than 10% involve furniture purchase experiences.

A significant portion of consumers come for the RMB 1 ice cream or the RMB 9.9 storage box, but conversion to core furniture purchases remains low.

Chengshi News points out: people still love visiting IKEA, but they no longer love buying there.

A deeper shift is happening within the consumer base. IKEA's target demographic—urban youth aged 25 to 35—is experiencing income polarization.

Those with higher incomes have entered a quality-upgrade phase. Products from local brands like Gaoke Home's new Chinese-style furniture, DeRUCCI's health sleep solutions, and KingKonree's integrated cabinet-wall systems offer higher-end material and service options, making IKEA's particleboard furniture seem outdated.

Meanwhile, young renters operate under tight budgets. On Pinduoduo (PDD-US), a 1.8-meter solid wood bed can be as low as RMB 699—cheaper than IKEA's most affordable foldable bed.

Caught in the middle, IKEA's positioning has become awkward.

At the same time, China's home furnishing industry is evolving its service models, with e-commerce disruption being comprehensive. As early as 2008, IKEA China executives proposed launching an online store, but founder Ingvar Kamprad rejected it, fearing it would hurt offline profits.

It wasn't until 2020 that IKEA entered Tmall. Last August, its flagship store on JD.com (JD-US) (09618-HK) finally opened.

But local brands had already surged ahead. During the 2025 'Double 11' shopping festival, the top three residential furniture brands on Tmall were Yuanshi Wood Language, Lin's Home, and Jomoo—all domestic brands. IKEA didn't even make the top ten.