Ikea India sees online sales grow, eyes operational profitability in several years

Swedish home furnishings and furniture business Ikea is eyeing operational profitability in the Indian market in several years’ time. To stay on track, the business is working on enhancing operational efficiency while keeping costs down. 

“It [operational profitability] will take a couple of years, but we have a very clear plan to achieve it,” said Ikea India’s CEO and chief sustainability officer Susanne Pulverer, the Press Trust of India reported. “We are moving according to plan and progressing towards profitability. There is a structured approach to achieving this, based on several initiatives. One key aspect is maintaining low costs in everything we do, which is part of our core value. We aim to enhance efficiency in our operations, develop more cost-effective touchpoints, and explore ways to reduce expenses.”

Ikea is now ready to move on from tackling the effects of the pandemic in India, supply chain disruption, and inflation and is moving towards a focus on growth, said Pulverer. In the 2024 financial year, the business saw its losses increase to Rs 1,299.4 crore, according to a filing by the business at the Registrar of Companies. The business attributed this to its ongoing investments in retail expansion in the country, India Retailing reported. Ikea India’s revenue did however increase in the 2024 financial year by 4.5% year on year to total Rs 1,809.8 crore. 

Ikea India is seeing its e-commerce sales increase at a swifter rate than its brick-and-mortar store sales, according to Pulverer. Online sales currently make up 30% of the business’ total sales in India but this figure will increase should the trend continue.