Ikea full-year sales fall cushioned by strong online growth

Ikea reported a 10% drop in sales to £1.9bn in the year to August 31 as store visitor numbers fell 22% year on year to 44 million due to coronavirus lockdowns.

The homeware giant’s online sales climbed 30% year on year and represented 27% of total sales during the period, up from 19% the previous year.

Visitor numbers to Ikea’s website also rose 16% year on year to 260 million. 

Ikea launched a series of initiatives during the year to monopolise on the shift online by shoppers due to non-essential retail closures, including offering click and collect across all of its UK stores, 4,000 click-and-deliver points through a partnership with DPD, and converting closed stores into fulfilment and distribution centres to cut down on delivery times for shoppers.

Products that were sustainably sourced and made from recycled material represented 30% of the volume of product sold by Ikea during the year, amounting to 64 million items.

The retailer’s market share slipped to 8.7% during the year compared with 9% in 2019.

UK and Ireland country retail manager Peter Jelkeby said: “Last year was the year that changed everything – from the way we live our daily lives, to the way we do business. Overall, I am proud of our performance and the way in which we’ve continued to develop and adapt our business to better meet our customers’ needs.

“Changes made over the past year will be vital for securing the future success of our business, as we continue our ambition to create a better everyday life for the many people and build back better by becoming truly people- and planet-positive.

“We have kick-started 2021 more committed than ever to our transformation plans and continue our journey towards a more affordable, convenient and people- and planet-positive Ikea.

“Having learnt an incredible amount about our customers, our abilities and our adaptability, we will work hard to take the customer experience to a new level and have plans to invest where it matters most.”