Ikea is focusing on digitalization, sustainability and “cooler things”. The furniture store is therefore testing a new platform in Madrid and Oslo.
Furniture retailer Ikea is testing an online second-hand goods market. Since Monday, the “Ikea Preowned” platform has enabled direct trading between customers who want to buy and sell used products from the Swedish company – initially only in Madrid and Oslo. The test phase in the capitals of Spain and Norway will run until the end of the year, Ikea boss Jesper Brodin is quoted as saying in the “Financial Times” (FT).
If the test is successful, “Ikea Preowned” will be introduced worldwide. The platform would compete with online marketplaces such as eBay or Craigslist. The project has been “a dream for some time,” said the managing director of Ingka, the main operator of Ikea furniture stores, to the “FT”.
Ikea has reached a point “where we can do more advanced and cooler things.” There is great confidence in the company's digital development.
For some time now, customers have been able to sell used furniture to Ikea, which the company then resells in its own stores. The group is now increasingly focusing on digitalization to promote sustainability. The aim is to reduce the production of waste and extend the lifespan of its own products, Brodin emphasized.
With “Ikea Preowned” customers can offer a product for sale with their own photos and a price. Ikea adds further information (such as dimensions, new price or promotional images). The goods must be picked up directly from the seller.
In Madrid, for example, you could buy a used three-seater Kivik sofa for 332 euros on Monday. That is 217 euros less than the new price in Spain (549 euros). In total, more than 450 products were for sale on the new platform at the start of the test phase in Madrid.
