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how we're different
How is IKEA different from other furnishing stores? They offer a wide range, or good design and function, or low prices. We offer ALL of these. That's our business idea.
 
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a wide range

The IKEA product range is wide and versatile in several ways. First, it's versatile in function. Because we think you shouldn't have to run from one small specialty shop to another to furnish your home, we gather plants, living room furnishings, toys, frying pans, whole kitchens - i.e., everything which in a functional way helps to build a home - in one place, at our IKEA stores.

Second, it's wide in style. The romantic at heart will find choices just as many as the minimalist at IKEA. But there is one thing we don't have, and that is, the far-out or the over-decorated. We only have what helps build a home that has room for good living.

Third, by being coordinated, the range is wide in function and style at the same time. No matter which style you prefer, there's an armchair that goes with the bookcase that goes with the new extending table that goes with the buffet that goes with the ......

So you see how wide our range is in a variety of ways.

good design and function

It's not easy to combine good design and good function with the right quality, at an affordable price. But then we are not known for taking the easy way out. Designing a desk that costs a fortune is easy. But designing something that's affordable to many is something only the truly talented designer and product developer can do.

Luckily for us, we have people like these working with our designs. By collaborating with skilled manufacturers, they find ways to get the most out of each type of raw material. They know how to produce furniture at a low cost, and still keep the original design idea.

Thanks to them, we have created the unique IKEA range. We call it a clever range, because it focuses on what is important and does away with what is unnecessary. Anything frivolous costs money, and that would in the end burn its way to customers' pockets. We know our customers only want smart solutions that would meet their needs, and the IKEA range is the result of our efforts to do just that. It isn't easy. Maybe that's why so few are doing it.

low prices

A wide range with good form and function is only half the story. Affordability has a part to play - the largest part. Price is the third and the most critical dimension for us who seek to make a better everyday life available to the many, not the few. For the many of you, happiness is finding just what you need for your home and being able to own it without having to forsake everything else. That's why we spend most of our days finding ways to keep prices low.

Our product developers seek out manufacturers who can produce in the most cost-effective way. Our designers always work with solutions that result in a low price. Our buyers search high and low to find the best price, then buy big volumes to make it even lower. And you help, too, by choosing the furniture, getting it at the warehouse, transporting it home and assembling it yourselves.


©Inter IKEA Systems B.V. 2001