“The temples of design in places like Milan or God knows where overflow with beautiful, original furniture that costs extortionate amounts of money,” says Kamprad. “The vast majority of people don’t have six figure amounts in the bank and don’t live in enormous apartments…it is for just such people that I created Ikea. For everybody who wants a comfortable house in which to live well. A need that crosses all countries, races and religions.”
From its very inception, IKEA has been dedicated to providing good quality and well functioning products at low prices. This has been Kamprad’s vision since day one, and it has been the driving force behind IKEA’s international success. It is for this reason that the company hires its own designers, many of whom have gone on to win design awards over the years.
“To design a desk which may cost $1,000 is easy for a furniture designer, but to design a functional and good desk which shall cost $50 can only be done by the very best,” says Kamprad. And, he wanted to be the very best, not just in order to cut down on costs, but because he wanted to be the supplier for the everyman. He wanted to meet the demands of the majority of people, whom he saw as being largely ignored by the industry. “We have decided once and for all to side with the many,” Kamprad said early on in his career. “What is good for our customers is also, in the long run, good for us.”
Everything Kamprad did could be traced back to his desire to meet his customer’s demands. He has kept his product lines simple in order to both minimize the potential for damage during transport as well as to make it easier for customers to take their furniture home themselves. The idea of the IKEA showroom was also implemented with the customer in mind.
“The objective must be to encompass the total home environment; that is, to offer furnishings and fittings for every part of the home whether indoors or outdoors,” says Kamprad. “It must reflect our way of thinking by being as simple and straightforward as we are ourselves. It must be durable and easy to live with. It must reflect an easier, more natural and unconstrained way of life.”
Kamprad was determined to keep his company on the ground and in touch with his customers. However, Kamprad wanted his company to exist not just to improve the lives of his customers, but also to improve the people themselves. This is a vision that is reinforced throughout the entire company, from its advertising campaigns to its catalogue to the design of its stores. The self-service nature of the stores, along with the self-assembly of their products, were not simple implemented as cost control measures. Rather, Kamprad viewed them as means to increase the individual’s self-sufficiency.
“The IKEA spirit is a strong and living reality,” says Kamprad. “Simplicity in our behaviour gives us strength. Simplicity and humbleness characterize us in our relations with each other, with our suppliers, and with our customers.”
Lesson #1: Take Your Cue from the Customer
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