Every project at IKEA has the goal to both improve costumer experience and reach commercial targets. Costumer's and sales' feedback serve as the guideline for the changes. One has to consider other great amount of variables while planning, such as costs, timeframe, safety regulations, logistics, accessibility, product awareness and the company brand's guidelines.
I worked in complex plans that involved complete department rebuilds extending through several weeks. Multiple teams worked together and one of my roles was to coordinate their work.
THE KITCHEN DEPARTMENT 2022
REASONS FOR CHANGE
-Loud environment for 1:1 planning
-Overall outdated layout
-No proper display for new product range
-Goods flow issues
OUTCOME
+32% year over year sales increase (top store in Germany for this department)
-Improved planning experience with average time cut by 7min
-Improved product awareness, navigation and good flow
This department had a very outdated layout and structure. The planning area was open to the rest of the department were costumers browse and shop. This created a noisy environment for the planning costumers and co-workers. The planners were often interrupted by shopping costumers asking questions not related to planning. The area lacked home furnishing competence and visual appeal with a lot of visual noise.
*This is how the planning area looked like before.
THE SOLUTION
Through changes in the department's layout, the planning area was put in a separated room with a reception desk separating it to the main aisle. The new reception with 3 counters would attend and sort the clients with appointments, without appointments and those with general questions. The whole ceiling above and surrounding the planing area received acoustic panels to reduce even more the noise. The materials used in the tables division and flooring were also noise absorber.
The play area was made more visible for parent with children and additional kitchen cabinets were built to both visually separate the planning spaces and also showcase the main features and accessories for the kitchen furniture, so that co-workers could show samples of how the products look and feel.
The product displays were also updated with white finishing to match the new look of the department and serve as a neutral background for the products. The displays were modified to facilitate maintenance and change, adding features to ensure costumer's safety while handling the products.
*This is how the displays looked like before, and on the right, how it turned out afterwards
THE LIVING ROOM DEPARTMENT 2023
REASONS FOR CHANGE
-Lack of space for the sofa current range
-Unclear division of sofa categories (regular, bed or modular sofas)
-Product areas not well defined
-Layout with shortcuts where costumers skip relevant product areas
-Bad lighting
OUTCOME
-Range is displayed correctly, following the brand's guidelines
-Improved navigation with no gaps
-Visual clutter removal
-Improved sales figures
The living room department is the first one on every IKEA store and it serves as a "decompression zone" and at the same time as the introduction to the IKEA brand and range. The old solution wasted potential on the home furnishing competence side. Relevant product features and advantages were unclear and there were no clear areas for some categories of products like armchairs and side tables.
I spotted an opportunity to clean the visual noise, optimize space and better display the sofa range!
I realized that the structure of the shelves where the sofas are place one over the other was extending until the ceiling. This extension had absolutely no structural benefit and was blocking not only the product but the lights, creating shadows over the products. The idea was to cut this excess structure of the shelves, allow the products to breathe and at the same time allow broader sofas or combinations of sofas with side tables, creating a decorated environment.
*This is how the shelves looked before the top structure was cut off and, on the right, how they turned out, with clear view of the products.
*Other product areas were created to better display the range. Armchairs on the left, and side tables on the right.
OTHER STORE MEDIAS 2020-25
