Why IKEA’s “tortuous” layout takes impulse shopping to the next level.

With a store layout reminiscent of The Maze Runner. It’s cheap food, ball pits, bright spaces, and sly psychology to get shoppers to fill their carts, it’s easy to think of IKEA as nothing more than a Swedish meatball pusher or a great weekend hideaway…if you can avoid security.

But as experienced retailers know, IKEA’s mad layout not only encourages people passing through to buy stuff, it takes impulse shopping to the next level.

In this quick video, we’re going to break down how IKEA plays with store layout to trick shoppers into increasing their cart value.

While many shoppers enter their local IKEA with a single item in mind… say a Billy bookshelf (which, by the way, is so loved that one is sold every 5 seconds) or perhaps a new chair… they often leave with home goods, linens, lighting fixtures, cooking ware, and more.

A decade ago, RetailWire reported on a professor who called IKEA’s layout tortuous…and he’s not wrong.

But there’s a purpose to the madness.

It’s estimated that 60% of purchases are impulse buys. And IKEA’s team has admitted that only 20% of purchases are based on logic and need.

Of course, IKEA has long been known for an unorthodox approach to business… flat pack comes to mind?

But when we look at their store layout, they break all the rules.

Store layout 101 dictates that we create environments that are:

• Intuitive
• Easy to navigate
• With clear viewpoints

Of course, the layouts change depending on the retail sector you’re in, but for the most part, we want people to come in with the freedom to browse.

But IKEA simply forces shoppers to make their way through a pre-determined, never-ending, meandering, one-way path.

With an average store size of 300k sq. ft. – IKEA forces shoppers to walk through almost the entire footprint.  

And for good reason: this layout forces wider product exposure: for most retailers, shoppers only see 1/3rd of all goods. IKEA’s layout herds shoppers past its entire catalogue.

More interesting than that though, is the fact that this layout actually creates a false sense of scarcity.

You see, when shoppers pass by items they’re not sure about, they only have two choices.  Dropped in the cart…for now…or later decide to backtrack through the whole store to get it later.

And even more interesting than all of that is that this layout actually creates a sense of mystery.

Because every few minutes as you walk through the store the path breaks in a new direction…so as a shopper you never know what’s around the bend. This creates a sense of exploration.

Alan Penn is a professor of architecture at University College London and he’s studied IKEA’s layout – a lot.

He calls it a “psychological weapon” used to drive cart value.

Because IKEA has mastered a psychological principle called the Gruen effect — when a store or mall’s layout is so different, almost bewildering, that it makes shoppers forget the original reasons why they came in. This, of course, leads to impulse buys.

Now, IKEA wouldn’t be the $24b EURO company it is today if store layout was the only trick up their sleeve…they also:

Strategically place mirrors. Because it turns out that when shoppers catch a glimpse of themselves in an IKEA display, they’re primed to visualize themselves in that space.

They also use contextual positioning. It’s the strategy of setting up display rooms exactly as they could look in a home. Familiarity encourages purchases.

And of course, they use wire bins like it’s going out of fashion. IKEA drops overstuffed wire bins with low-cost products along the route to reinforce the idea that its goods are a…good deal.

Now, the most bizarre part of the store, especially for a furniture retailer is the prepared food section which somehow, drives furniture sales.

IKEA’s founder is said to have built food courts in his stores back in the 1950s because, quote: “It’s difficult to do business with someone on an empty stomach.”

And while that’s a touching thought, in reality, a 2012 study out of Italy revealed that out of the 700 shoppers surveyed, those who ate at the food court spent on average 2x more on home furnishings than those who didn’t.

How could that be? The idea is that the food court and its ultra-reasonable pricing, like the wire bins along the route, reinforce the idea that IKEA has low pricing.

So that’s how IKEA tricks shoppers into increasing cart value:

1)  The winding layout introduces shoppers to more products.

2) The never-ending bins of low-cost items and accessories, paired with its low-cost food signal to shoppers that IKEA is fairly priced.

And so, 3) they sell more, even of their high-margin items.

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