Ikea vs Me

An old retail rule of thumb is to never go to a retail store hungry. Chances are that you will end up spending substantially more. With that thought in mind, I approached my first visit to an Ikea store- the sprawling Navi Mumbai one. I had also heard that the on-premise “Swedish Restaurant” sells reasonably priced food. I’ll hit two birds with one stone. Or so I thought. 

Numerous studies and articles have been written about Ikea and how the Company is a pioneer in consumer behaviour. They sell furniture like no other. They also sell vast amounts of food. The moment I got into the queue to order; I could guess why.

When you visit a food joint, some of the ways in which you order food generally are:

• Restaurants: Stating your order to the server.
• QSR/Café: Placing your request at the cash till
• All-you-can eat Buffet

In the first two instances, you can take a reasonable amount of time, make a rational choice, and purchase the food. In the last, the price is fixed, and you can take as many helpings as you want. But at Ikea, you don’t order in any of the traditional ways. You pick a trolley that has three trays and then proceed to load it up with mountains of food kept on display. Ultimately, at the cash till the operator checks your trolley and bills you. I came to know later that a few other Indian eateries also have such a system, and this can be found Internationally on a much larger scale. For me, though, it was a completely new experience. I believe this unique style has a big impact on Ikea’s food sales:

1. Loosening the strings- You are holding a trolley not just a tray. The surface area that you can fill with food is immense. Thus, starts the gentle nudging to buy more food than planned.
2. Psychological Benchmarking - You start off with Mugs/Glasses which offer unlimited refills of hot/cold beverages for Rs. 80 each, by any standard that’s a value-conscious positioning. Now, the chain has your trust that the food on sale is priced appropriately and that there are no premiums to be paid.
3. Upselling beforehand- After beverages, instead of soups/salads or main course- desserts are on offer. On a hungry stomach, who wouldn’t want a dose of sugar? Also, the first real food in sight, your hands most likely will automatically take a helping. The course which is generally an afterthought subconsciously becomes the main meal. The desserts are followed by stations for wraps, main courses, salads, bakery items, and finally checkout.  
4. Price Tag Placement- In my opinion, the prices are reasonable at the chain but even then, Ikea doesn’t want to take any chances with supersizing your tray. The price tags are not placed next to the products, they are mentioned on shelf headers a few feet above the product. Now, checking the price of each item is a laborious task. Customers are bound to give up after a point and just pick up what they fancy.
5. Creating Artificial Rush- Standing in a queue with other hungry people, one is bound to feel the social pressure to make their choices quickly and move ahead giving the shopper substantially less time to make a rational decision about what food item to pick. To err is human and many of us err on the side of caution. The result- multiple courses and items.
6. The Layout- Now, the layout is like that of a buffet. The main difference is that you pay for what you eat. Most of the Ikea clientele is familiar with eating at a buffet. In my opinion, our minds begin to consider this as one as well. Subconsciously, we consider this an all-you-can-eat affair and disregard the price multiple. Possibly leading to multiple helpings of an item when only one would’ve sufficed.

Once at the cash till you get an Ikea family discount if you are a member. It was less than five percent. I guess there is not much love within the family. Jokes aside, the result of all these efforts was visible in the trolleys which were checking out. Ours included. For a party of four, our bill, ultimately, was more than it would’ve been at a North Indian restaurant and considerably more than at a QSR. The Coen brothers couldn’t have penned a better dark humor script. While I had thought that I would beat the masters of retail at furniture shopping, I was soundly defeated at the altar of my own strategy.

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This article is my Kobayashi moment. I was so focused on finding Keyser Soze, I let Verbal Kint getaway. “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.”

^^If you know, you know.