Few retail chains had such a good reputation in the Czech Republic as Ikea. If someone needed furniture, they would head to his shops first. All the competition then had considerable difficulty in coping with this chain in every way. The reason for the popularity was interesting designer things, as well as favorable prices.
Have they exaggerated?
But Ikea’s popularity in the Czech Republic is starting to seriously deteriorate. It started with the fact that in the previous two years the company had big problems with procurement. A significant part of the assortment was missing for a long time, while the delivery time was quite long. Manufacturing and supply chains have understandably been affected which is slowly returning to normal and Ikea can now offer most goods in stock again.
These issues, however, have been followed up smoothly by others, which are quite possibly even more significant. Ikea is raising prices very sharply, which it also officially announced, stating that production costs are increasing. A price hike in some form wouldn’t be a huge surprise, as prices for virtually everything everywhere are rising.
In the case of Ikea, however, the prices of some items have increased significantly. Furthermore, it has been found that it may not be the cost of production, but rather an effort to increase margins in the domestic market. People who now travel en masse to Poland to buy food sometimes also visit the local Ikea stores and to their surprise they find that the prices are completely different. And the differences are often even greater than in food.
It’s not a good comparison
For example, when a client tried to assemble a wardrobe in the Internet configurator, it cost 16 thousand Polish crowns. It seems quite a fair price, which we have been used to for a long time. However, the Czech configurator throws out the completely identically assembled cabinet with a completely different price, namely 38 thousand crowns. Which is really enough for a mass-produced thing. In Poland, at this price, you’d have two wardrobes and still have six thousand crowns left over.
This is not an isolated case. Virtually all goods are significantly cheaper in Poland. At the same time, Ikea is known for offering basically the same thing everywhere, so the comparison is very easy. And while it might not be worth it for some people to travel to Poland for food, buying furniture with savings of tens of thousands of kroner is a different matter.
“Ikea has never blown my mind with quality, but for the prices, it was good stuff. But what they started wanting is now too much. Competitor furniture is usually more comfortable and cheaper,” says Mrs. Hana from Brno, who already prefers to shop at other chains.
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