EXPRESSING its intent of staying long term in the Philippines, Swedish furniture and houseware giant Ikea has expanded its e-commerce business by setting up collection points outside of its Manila operations.
On Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, Ikea opened its collection point in Robinsons Galleria Cebu. It is a hub where customers can pick up their Ikea products bought online.
The company also opened a collection point in Pampanga in December last year.
Ikea Philippines has about six collections points to date.
The Cebu collection point was originally scheduled to open in December last year but was pushed back due to Typhoon Odette.
Jon Cinconiegue, fulfillment developer of Ikea Philippines, said the expansion of Ikea’s collection points was the company’s move to make Ikea products accessible to more Filipinos across the country.
The company tapped XDE Logistics as its partner courier service. Customers would only need to pay a collection fee of P2,700 for orders up to three pallets with a delivery lead time of 14 days from Ikea Manila to its Cebu collection point in Robinsons Cebu Galleria.
Customers can also arrange a door-to-door delivery with XDE Logistics once their orders arrive in Cebu.
Ikea has also partnered with LBC in providing parcel delivery to both Pampanga and Cebu collection points which will be offered soon.
Jarek Leśniewski, In Store Logistics manager at Ikea Pasay, said Ikea Philippines recorded one of the most overwhelming market responses since its opening on Nov. 25, 2021.
“We were all prepared, but it seems like we were not all prepared,” said Leśniewski, referring to the 10 weeks’ worth of inventory to cover the Christmas and Chinese New Year seasons that were immediately depleted after a few days.
“It was a fantastic problem. So now we have adjusted our forecast,” he said.
Stock issues
Recently, Ikea Philippines released a statement asking its customers to extend their patience as the company is facing stock shortages due to the ongoing global supply chain crisis.
“We’re all in the same boat. The global transport crisis has led to availability challenges in our stores,” the company posted on its Facebook page on Jan. 27.
Ikea said the Covid-19 outbreak disrupted the global movement of supply and goods for many businesses, including Ikea Philippines.
“We share your frustration when the items you want are not readily available and we assure you we are doing everything we possibly can to continue to improve the situation,” the company said.
It encouraged its customers to visit IKEA.ph to check the stock availability online and in-store.
Top products bought by Filipinos are in the categories of workspaces, children’s range as well as in cooking and eating.
Moving forward, Cinconiegue eyes to open at least 20 collection points in the country, particularly in areas where opening up a physical store is not feasible.
Ikea Philippines, located in the Mall of Asia complex in Pasay City, is the largest store in the world with its 730,000-square-foot facility.