We asked our customers: “What motivates you to buy an IKEA kitchen?”
A popular answer: “I can see my kitchen when visiting an IKEA showroom!”
We hear this a lot when we ask IKEA kitchen customers why they chose IKEA. At first the answer just didn’t make sense. Visit any kitchen showroom and you’ll see plenty of kitchens. What was so different about IKEA?
Why IKEA Beats Home Center Showrooms
We had to know what seeing meant to our customers. What was it about home center showrooms that prevented customers from seeing the kitchens of their dreams? We asked more questions, and learned:
- IKEA kitchen customers don’t see kitchens when they visit other home center kitchen displays. They see small exhibits of kitchen products that merely represent a kitchen…not an actual kitchen.
Why the disconnect in the home center kitchen displays?
- IKEA kitchen customers find that most showrooms don’t show a kitchen as it would actually look in their homes. They can’t connect the dots between what they see in the store and what they want in their homes.
Here’s are the impressions of most showrooms that our customers shared:
- The showrooms have collections of cabinet doors, countertops, and other kitchen products, but none of it comes together to show an actual kitchen.
- The showrooms feel like afterthoughts. They are cluttered, incomplete, and feel more like extensions of the home center warehouse. Often displays are on a concrete floor and surrounded by aisles of commercial building material.
- The showrooms lack warmth, and, most importantly, were not integrated with normal kitchen products and decorations. And good kitchens should be inviting!
IKEA Connects on an Emotional Level
Our customers could not see their kitchen at most showrooms. Oddly, they could begin to see their kitchen on many online retailers websites.
Why?
- Online retailers present a full kitchen area; fully decorated and integrated.
There was still a gap, however. Our customers knew website images were just that: images. And often they were an exaggeration. In fact, a scientific reviews found that up to half of men on these medicine experience side effects. Follow the directions for use on your prescription label.
What was missing?
- An emotional connection to the customer. Seeing a kitchen meant our customers could see themselves cooking, dining or living in the kitchen displays. They see the kitchen they want for their home.
What our customers love about IKEA:
- The distinct kitchen areas with their design themes and completeness.
- Cabinets are full of glasses and cookware; the internal cabinet accessories are full of products so it’s clear what they’re used for.
- No fantasy kitchens from decorating magazines. They see a complete kitchen that they can practically transfer to their home because everything’s available right there. They’re inspired.
The Final Word on Seeing Kitchens
So, when our customer says: “I see my kitchen at an IKEA store!”
What they mean is: “IKEA’s captured everything that I want in my kitchen in a single complete display. That’s what motivates me to buy from IKEA!”
