After Wal-Mart, IKEA, the world's largest home furnishing chain giant, also spent an uneasy weekend due to layoffs. On May 25, the final layoffs plan for IKEA was released, and the trading offices responsible for procurement in Xiamen, Wuhan, and Chengdu were about to close, involving 70 layoffs.

According to a statement from IKEA China Public Relations Manager Xu Lide to this reporter, the above actions were done in response to the merger and unification of the procurement business in Greater China. However, the reporter learned that the layoffs may be related to a large-scale adjustment in IKEA's European headquarters. It is reported that from September 1, 2009, MikaelOhlsson will take over as the current president and CEO Anders Dahlvig (Anders Dahlvig), and this day is also the first day of IKEA's next fiscal year.

6 trade offices closed in half

It is confirmed that IKEA will end its trading office business in Chengdu, Wuhan and Xiamen, and concentrate all business activities in Qingdao, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The remaining three offices will continue to operate, but some employees may be laid off.

The reporter learned from the investigation that IKEA has 41 trading and procurement companies in 30 countries. Through IKEA Trading (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., six offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Chengdu, Wuhan, and Xiamen are set up on the mainland to be responsible for procurement in China.

"We will integrate procurement in Greater China and develop business in a new unified trading area with a procurement model of 14 product / material categories." IKEA responded in a statement.

"In order to make the operation more efficient and simple, IKEA Trading established a new business direction in 2009, bringing IKEA into the 'quality era', focusing on improving aspects of effectiveness and quality." Xu Lide said that he re-planned the organizational structure and Formulate a new working model.

Sales growth fell from 10% to 3%

This idea is exactly the same as the development direction newly introduced by IKEA Group at the end of April.

"The financial crisis should be the best moment in the worst era for IKEA. When people's incomes decrease, more consumers will choose low-priced IKEA." But some IKEA insiders revealed that from August 31 last year Since the end of the 2008 fiscal year, sales growth has fallen to 3%, lower than the level of 10% in the previous fiscal year. ——— Because more furniture sales companies are aware of the impact of the economic crisis and have adjusted their strategies, they continue to conduct price wars.

"Due to the economic downturn, the Group has slowed down its expansion, and plans to add 12 new stores this fiscal year." It revealed that the company also set new strategic goals in April, on the one hand to improve product quality, on the other hand to reduce costs and reduce price.

At the same time, the board of directors of Ingka H oldingBV., The parent company of IKEA, announced that Mikael Ohlsson, the retail manager of IKEA's Southern Europe and North America, will take over as the current president and CEO Andersdale Weig, appointed September 1, 2009 Take effect. The incoming M ikael O hlsson previously revealed to Reuters that a plan to control costs has been developed and will be further strengthened this fall.

The role of the purchasing base trumps the consumer market

"China's IKEA territory, the role of procurement base is more important than the role of the consumer market." An analyst said. It is reported that IKEA's fiscal year 2008 (September 1, 2007-August 31, 2008) China's turnover is about 2.79 billion yuan, less than 2% of the Group's global sales of 21.2 billion euros. However, the annual purchase amount in China fluctuates little, averaging around US $ 1.7 billion. Last year it accounted for 21% of global purchases, ranking first.

About 2% of IKEA's purchases in China are sold locally, and the remaining 98% are exported to Europe. However, the European and American markets, which account for 15% and 10% of IKEA sales respectively, have gradually shrunk. US industry experts and analysts said that local furniture and mattress sales fell by 9.3% in 2008. The lower consumption level has made consumers focus on many large furniture discount stores. At present, many furniture manufacturers are seeking other sales channels, such as online sales and TV shopping. It is expected that furniture and mattress sales will continue to decline by 2% in 2009.

The above analysts believe that due to the shrinking of the European and American consumer markets, IKEA may reduce the overall cost by reducing the size of personnel and procurement. Europe is still the main purchasing base of IKEA, with a proportion of 67%. Although some Chinese suppliers are extremely price-oriented, they cannot improve the quality. After the merger and unification of IKEA's China-based purchasing operations, which are mainly exported to Europe, those suppliers with lower prices but unable to improve their quality may be eliminated. In response, IKEA did not respond to reporters.

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