"It is a completely new experience," Barbara Martin Coppola, chief digital officer at Ikea, said in an interview. "The app is combined with the store experience, with the online experience." It will allow users to visualise how their homes could be furnished with Ikea products by inputting room dimensions and choosing from different tastes and life stages. Ikea has stepped up efforts to respond to the rise of e-commerce since Jesper Brodin took over in 2017 as chief executive of the Ingka Group, which owns most Ikea stores. Ikea has been trialling city-centre formats including a dedicated kitchen showroom in Stockholm, a London store offering personalised planning for home renovations, and one for living room furniture in Madrid.

Source: The Star May 29, 2019 03:00 UTC