Customer movement management in a retail setting: An explorative study of customer movement management at IKEA

Abstract: The designs of stores do seem to be an area of non-interest in general. Providing the right good at the right price should be enough. Still, we are exposed to different kinds of physical impressions when entering a store. The actual effects of those impressions are not well documented in research. With respect to its impressing revenue growth, IKEA is a company of specific interest. Something is clearly going on in their stores that contribute to their success. In this study, we identify a peculiar in-store practice at the IKEA store in Kungens kurva outside Stockholm, Sweden and assess the benefits gained by the IKEA store from this practice. Direct observation is the method applied for this identification. This practice is understood by theories of retail store design. Possible emotional and behavioral effects of this practice are investigated in the analysis. At last, the study contributes with a theoretical discussion on the subject. The study concludes that IKEA uses a planned walkway in their store to maximize the time customers spend in store but that significant freedom of customer movement prevails. Earlier studies verify that more time spent in store correlates with making spontaneous purchases, hence yielding higher revenue for IKEA. Though, whether success is in fact due to the planned walkway is debatable. More thorough studies on the causality between the walkway and revenue generation are recommended.