From assembling furniture to special lunchboxes: How Ikea aims to win India

IKEA, which sells affordable furniture that people assemble themselves, in a research found that Indians would be unlikely to buy furniture which they would have to assemble together themselves

Ikea built a global empire selling affordable furniture that people assembled themselves. For its first store in India, the Swedish retailer is upending its business model.

The India store, set to open next month in the southern city of Hyderabad, will feature Ikea’s first in-house furniture-assembly team, with 150 full-time employees. Ikea created the optional service after research indicated many Indians would be unlikely to buy bookshelves and tables they had to screw together.

The store will also have items tailored for Indian preferences, such as lunchbox sets to carry multiple-course meals, pans to cook Indian flatbread, and mattresses containing coconut fibres,