Ikea has launched its first ever store in the Indian market and it has already started breaking sale records. You will be surprised to know that over 40,000 people visit Ikea’s Hyderabad store on the first day. While it may seem that this buzz is because of India’s love for foreign brands offering discounts, experts believe that Ikea has played very smartly and has waited for over 12 years to start its operations in India as the company wanted to achieve the best results considering the business India can provide.
The whole planning was made so smartly that is making the execution look simple and profit making. Here’s a look back at the timeline of how Ikea learned about Indian market with announcements in these 12 years.
1 June 2006
Ikea revealed that the company is studying the Indian market and would like to be there in 5 years if foreign ownership policies change.
10 April 2008
Ikea shows interest in entering India, but local laws were still not allowing the company due to 51 percent foreign ownership plans.
11 June 2009
Ikea decided to postpone the plan to after talks with the Indian government on foreign direct investments fail.
1 Jan 2012
Indian government discards a rule against foreign single-brand retailers operating stores without a local partner, thus, opening the gates for global companies including Ikea.
Also Read: Kishore Biyani’s HomeTown Spoiled Ikea’s Party With Innovative Ads
22 June 2012
India’s commerce ministry agrees for Ikea to invest $700 million in the country.
20 Nov 2012
India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board approved Ikea’s proposal to open stores in India.
21 May 2016
Ikea announced to open 25 stores in India by 2025 and purchases a land for a 400,000-square-foot store in Navi Mumbai.
13 Sept 2016
Ikea reveals that it started construction of its first store in Hyderabad and the company is looking for land in other cities including Delhi and Bangalore.
7 Dec 2016
Ikea announces the expected time to open a Hyderabad store towards the end of 2017.
18 May 2017
Ikea reveals about doubling its investment in India by 2020 and announces it will open its first Indian store, in Hyderabad, in early 2018.
31 May 2017
Ikea announces the purchase of 14 acres of land in Bengaluru for a third store in India after Hyderabad and Navi Mumbai with expectations of 5 million visitors per year. The search for land in Delhi, Chennai and Pune was still on.
1 Sept 2017
Times of India reports about Ikea to invest $120 million in its Bengaluru store.
2 Nov 2017
Ikea announces the purchase of 10 acres of land in Gurugram in the NCR region outside Delhi and plans to build a 400,000 square-foot store with parking for 1,000 cars and a restaurant seating 1,000 people.
Also Read: IKEA Makes History With Earning A Huge Amount On The First Day In India
22 Nov 2017
Ikea opened an experiential center in Hyderabad to showcase its products to Indian customers and announces about the 2nd store (Mumbai) to open in 2019, followed by Bengaluru and Delhi.
6 Dec 2017
Ikea announces the strategy to hire more than 14,600 people in India by 2025 among which half of them must be women.
13 July 2018
Ikea postponed its plan for Hyderabad store opening to Aug.ust 9 from July 18.
9 Aug 2018
Ikea finally opened its first store in India with some great marketing strategies that made such an impact that it created a stampede-like situation in the city.
