IKEA said Wednesday that it’s in the early stages of a push to sell products on online retail platforms other than its own website.
The CEO of Inter IKEA Group, Torbjörn Lööf told Reuters in an interview that the plan will start in 2018. IKEA confirmed to Coins2Day that the project will launch “over the coming years” in an emailed statement.
This decision means that consumers may soon be able to buy IKEA’s ready-to-assemble furniture through familiar online retailers like Amazon or Walmart. But IKEA notes that it has not made any decision regarding which specific platforms would be involved.
“We are curious and want to explore new areas and get new insights on how to reach and serve more of the many people,” an IKEA spokeswoman said in a statement.
In the meantime, the world’s biggest home furnishing retailer stresses that “our main focus remains of course with our existing sales channels, including IKEA.com and stores, where a lot of exciting development is going on.”
Online business has never been IKEA’s strong suit. It made up just €1.4 billion of the company’s overall sales at €34.2 billion in 2016.