IKEA China has launched an official flagship store on Douyin, a leading short-video platform, expanding its omnichannel strategy as the Swedish home furnishing retailer seeks to reach consumers where they increasingly discover products and make purchasing decisions.
The Douyin flagship store unveiled on Oct 11 offers more than 6,500 home furnishing products across 179 categories, with delivery available to 301 cities nationwide. IKEA said the platform combines livestreaming, home inspiration, product recommendations and shopping, adding another touchpoint to its growing digital ecosystem.
The move reflects IKEA's latest effort to adapt to changing consumer behavior, as more shoppers begin their purchasing journey on content platforms before moving between online and offline channels.
"We see that more and more consumers are using different channels to seek home inspiration, exchange ideas and make purchase decisions," Song Ying'ai, acting president and chief sustainability officer of IKEA China, said.
"What attracts us most about platforms like Douyin e-commerce is not only that it provides us with a new way to reach consumers, but also that it gives us continuous learning opportunities," Song said.
"It helps us gain a deeper understanding of how inspiration, interaction and shopping experiences are constantly converging."
The Douyin launch marks the latest milestone in IKEA China's digital expansion. The retailer opened its first official flagship store on a third-party e-commerce platform through Tmall in 2020, initially offering about 3,800 products. It expanded to JD.com in 2025, and earlier this year introduced instant delivery services in nine cities, enabling some small items to be delivered in as little as one hour.
With the addition of Douyin, IKEA now reaches consumers through physical stores, its official website, mobile app, WeChat mini-programs, and multiple third-party e-commerce platforms.
The expansion of digital channels has been accompanied by adjustments to IKEA's physical retail network.
Earlier this year, IKEA closed seven stores in locations, namely Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Nantong, Xuzhou, Ningbo, and Harbin as part of its retail optimization strategy. At the same time, the company said it plans to open more than 10 small-format stores over the next two years while continuing to renovate and invest in existing locations.
Rather than replacing physical stores, IKEA sees digital channels as complementing them as consumer behavior evolves.
Large-format IKEA stores were once destinations where shoppers would spend hours browsing furniture, exploring home decor ideas and dining at the retailer's restaurants. Today, however, many home furnishing purchases begin online, with consumers expecting greater convenience and flexibility throughout the shopping journey.
Content platforms such as Douyin are becoming an increasingly important part of that journey, enabling retailers to inspire purchases before consumers have actively begun shopping. Unlike traditional e-commerce platforms, which primarily capture existing demand, Douyin's content recommendation model allows brands to generate new demand through livestreams and home decoration content.
The strategy also complements IKEA's efforts to strengthen its low-price strategy in China.
The retailer invested a cumulative 673 million yuan ($100.6 million) during the two fiscal years before 2025 to lower prices across its product range. For fiscal year 2026, it plans to invest another 160 million yuan to reduce prices on more than 150 products.
While lower prices help improve competitiveness, content platforms provide IKEA with another opportunity to communicate those price reductions to consumers who may not yet be actively shopping for home furnishings. - China Daily/ANN
