IKEA and Best Buy: A Cross-Brand Retail Partnership

In the first-ever cross-brand retail experience for IKEA US, it is launching a shared retail presence with Best Buy.

This partnership will make it easier for shoppers to get decorative inspiration for their homes and to purchase items they know will fit their spaces.

Both retailers are showing they can adapt to ever-changing customer needs in a rapidly shifting market.

An innovative launch

This collaboration will launch in 10 stores across Florida and Texas, each with 1,000 square-foot IKEA 'shop-in-shops'.

This will feature kitchen and laundry room settings as a way to influence and inspire customers, helping them create cohesion across their rooms. 

It is designed to blend the best high-tech appliances with comfortable and aesthetic living spaces, allowing customers to see how the two brands can work together to create the best room.

Customers will be able to get help from both Best Buy and IKEA experts, whether they're planning and ordering home furnishing solutions or finding out about the latest technology.

“When you’re shopping for new electronics, whether it’s a laptop or a TV or a washing machine, it’s important to understand the technology and make a decision based on how it will help you, your family and your home in your everyday life,” says Patrick McGinnis, Chief Merchandising Officer at Best Buy.

“With this partnership, we get to combine technology and design and show shoppers what’s truly possible in their home like never before.”

Two of the stores—Lakeland and Alamo Ranch—will also transform into IKEA pick-up points, so customers will be able to pick up IKEA products for free at the Best Buy store, even if the item wasn't bought through the partnership.

This should see an increase in purchase, as it creates more ease for the customer, encouraging them to buy more.

Tactical growth for IKEA

In making the delivery and pick up of their products easier, IKEA is making itself more accessible to more consumers.

As a result, it is building better relations with its consumers, which in turn will see an increase in purchasing.

IKEA is a global company with 375 stores in 30 countries, with 51 stores in the US alone.

Currently, there are five IKEA stores in Texas and five stores in Florida.

In comparison, there are 1,054 Best Buy stores in the US, with 109 in Texas and 66 in Florida.

Through this collaboration, IKEA is able to gain more foot traffic, bringing itself to more customers. 

Rob Olson, Chief Operation Officer, IKEA U.S adds: “This partnership between IKEA and Best Buy is about making great design and functionality more accessible for the many.

“By bringing together our home furnishing expertise, products, and services with Best Buy’s leadership in appliances and technology, we’re creating a one-stop destination where customers can design their dream kitchen, storage solutions or laundry space with ease.

"It’s a great step on our journey to helping people create beautiful, functional homes at a price they can afford." 

This strategic plan is encouraging more purchases by streamlining a consumer's focus to this partnership—by displaying a Best Buy product in an IKEA kitchen, they're showing how good that specific product looks within that space.

As a result, more consumers will feel compelled to buy that specific product from that specific store. 

In associating a product with a setting, IKEA and Best Buy have created a efficient and tactical purchasing chain.

Through creating this partnership, IKEA and Best Buy are positioning themselves as two collaborative duos, welcoming new suppliers and partners. 

They are actively creating strong value chains with each other, as well as the suppliers of each company, and reaching out to more consumers.