Ikea reports strong growth in retail sales for FY 2018

Flat pack furniture retailer Ikea has reported a 4.7% increase in retail sales to €38.8bn (£33.9bn) in its full year 2018 report.

The company opened 12 new Ikea stores, including its first in India, and customer visits to its 367 stores increased by 3% (838 million visits) in 2018 while visits to Ikea.com increased by 10% (2.35 billion visits in total).

During the year, Ingka Group, which owns Ikea, said it has experienced an “increase in the majority of its 30 markets”, and said China is one of its “fastest growing markets”.

Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group, said: “This has been a truly inspiring year during which our amazing colleagues have shown strong leadership and entrepreneurship. We’re taking advantage of the fast-changing retail environment and developing IKEA to become more accessible.

“We will continue to invest in the customer meeting in the store and leveraging our existing assets in new ways, such as making our store a strong part of our fulfilment network. In addition, we’re exploring new store formats in city centers – all with the aim to improve the meeting with our customers both physically and digitally.”