Pooja Grover, Country Expansion Manager, IKEA India.
Swedish retail giant IKEA bets on smaller-format stores for its next phase of expansion in India. After opening its first large-format store in Hyderabad, the company has launched its very first ‘Plan & Order Point’ (PaOP) in Bengaluru — marking a strategic shift in its retail approach.
“The PaOP format is one of the many options we have chosen for our store expansion,” said Pooja Grover, Country Expansion Manager, IKEA India. “It allows us to be closer to where people live and work, while offering personalised services, planning support and affordability. This will pave the way for many such formats in the future.”
The company has not disclosed specific cities for upcoming PaOPs but confirmed that it is prioritising deeper expansion in six cities — Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Noida, Gurgaon, Pune and Chennai. “These are our core markets right now. But we will also look at a few Tier-II cities to test and learn,” Grover said.
Explaining why Bengaluru was chosen for the debut of this new format, she explained that the city offers a unique mix of demographic and market strengths. “Bengaluru has emerged as a strong residential growth hotspot. It has a young, working population, a well-travelled consumer base, and is one of the leading IT hubs. We see strong home furnishing potential here over the next five years.”
The newly launched store spans just 740 sq mt — a sharp contrast to IKEA’s traditional large-format stores that cover around 4,00,000 sq mt and take up to five years to build. The smaller store format, by comparison, can be set up in just two months.
IKEA Plan & Order Point
IKEA’s PaOP is designed to offer customers curated access to its full range through digital interfaces and in-store experts, focusing on core spaces like kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms and living rooms. The specialists help plan a room or entire home, from layouts to product selections. Once the design is finalised, orders can be placed on-site, with options for home delivery, click & collect, or local partner pick-up, said the company. Globally,IKEA operates 174 PaOP across markets.
The company is also exploring other store sizes, including PaOPs ranging from 50 to 800 sq mt, and mid-sized stores starting at 10,000 sq ft.
For FY24, IKEA India posted revenue from operations of ₹1,809.8 crore, compared to ₹1,731.63 crore in the previous year, according to data from Tofler. However, losses widened to ₹1,303 crore in FY24, from ₹1,134.3 crore in FY23.
Published on April 30, 2025