BK004: IKEA Australia E-Marketing Strategy Report - Semester 2

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of IKEA Australia's e-marketing strategies, examining the company's background, target markets, and marketing mix. It delves into the challenges and opportunities IKEA faces, particularly in the context of e-marketing, and explores various e-marketing activities such as SEO development, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns, and email marketing. The report outlines different e-marketing campaigns IKEA could implement, including themes related to environmental conservation, baby products, and fitness for office employees. It also discusses interactive marketing communication, focusing on a green model campaign to increase awareness of environmental issues. The report analyzes marketing objectives, suggests improvements to interactive processes, and emphasizes the importance of customer engagement and website support. The report concludes by highlighting the significance of e-marketing in reaching global customers and the need for organizations to stay competitive in the digital landscape.

Running head: IKEA AUSTRALIA
IKEA AUSTRALIA
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

Table of content
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Company background......................................................................................................................2
Target markets.................................................................................................................................3
Marketing mix.................................................................................................................................3
Challenges and opportunities...........................................................................................................4
E-marketing activities......................................................................................................................5
Pay Per Click or Pay Per Call (PPC)...................................................................................5
Different e-marketing campaigns....................................................................................................6
Develop interactive marketing communication...............................................................................7
Examining the E-sale quality for delivering the products of IKEA................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References:....................................................................................................................................12

Introduction
E-marketing has become one of the major aspects in the modern day scenario as they help in
making a faster appeal to the customers. It must be noted in this context that all the organizations
have to face a very tough competition. In order to reach the global level customers, e-marketing
initiatives have become an important strategic initiative. As a result of this they have to make
sure that they are gaining a good grip over the online marketing platforms like social media
marketing. As per the opinion of Mathews et al. (2016) online marketing or the internet
marketing is of utmost importance in the modern day society as bit is a good platform of
interaction. Muzellec, Ronteau & Lambkin (2015) has stated that interactive marketing in the
modern day scenario is of utmost importance so that the organizations can take all the business
decisions by taking the views and the opinions of the customers. Surveys are also used in order
to make the feedbacks of the customers but in the modern day scenario it has been seen that
customers are much more active over the social media platforms than in comparison to the other
platforms
Company background
IKEA is one of the Global retailers that aim at making the lives of the customers easier.
The company is originally of a Swedish origin and has established into a multinational retail
group trying to fulfill the demands of their customers since the year 2008. The company was
founded in the year 28 July 1943 (Ikea.com, 2019). They mainly deal in the production of the
ready to move and ready to use home furniture like the kitchen alliances and also the home
furniture’s that helps in making the lives of their customers safe and also attractive.
The marketing aim of the company is to ensure well designed, user friendly and
affordable products to the customers so that they can get a smooth and easier life. The company
mainly deals in the home items of day to day use. The company makes sure that they are being
able to design their rooms at house and also at their offices in a way that it helps in making their
lives safe, easier and attractive.
Target markets
In the demographic segment age group and income level of the customers have been
chosen by IKEA for identifying its potential target customers. The company mainly targets the

members who are office goers and also the ones stay in a family. In other words the target
market mainly includes the customers who are belonging to the age group of 25 to 60 years.
Apart from this the expecting parents and the young parents who are working also form a major
section of the targeted customers of the company.
Marketing mix
Product
The company IKEA deals in a large number of products like bathroom storage, chairs,
tables, decoration pieces and many other such materials. In other words the company has been
successful in understanding about the current customers trends. Therefore they have diversified
themselves in the range of products. Therefore the company has been able to develop their
[products in such a ay that they can appeal to all the customers
Place
The company has also been successful in developing their branches in 28 countries and
they are now selling their products in about 340 stores. This is evident of the fact that customers
located even in the remote regions are able to buy the products being sold by the company. The
have also developed the online stores so that the customs also place their orders online and
collect them as per their choice. The company has developed the pickup points in order to help
the customers get their products on time without any trouble.
Price
IKEA has been able to set the price of their products with the right strategy. They have
been able to understand that the price of the products must be as per the quality. Therefore they
set the price accordingly and the customers are happy paying the same as they feel that it is
worth the quality
Promotion
Promotion can be considered as one of the important components in marketing mix
(Ziemba, Jankowski & Wątróbski, 2018). IKEA mainly promotes its products through publishing
of catalogues. The catalogues are avails both online sites and the application. Social media is one

of the important platforms that act for the organization. The social media platform is useful for
the promotion of the products by this company.
Challenges and opportunities
Opportunities
IKEA Company has started with their green model that they can use to attract the
customers who are interested in buying the eco-friendly products. However they have to make
sure that they are being able to appeal to the ethical consumers who are interested in buying the
products that are eco-friendly in nature.
Challenge
Lak of availability of online platforms is thee important challenges faced by IKEA. They
can face a tough competition by their competitors who have already started selling their products
online (Rowley, 2017). Though the company is selling the products online they will be able to
make their websites much more informative and also much more on the interactive marketing
strategies.
E-marketing activities
E-Marketing strategies
Developing the SEO
In the global business environment ensuring the strong internet existence, search engine
optimization has become an important marketing tool (Wiener, Shelton IV & Yates, 2019).
Developing the SEO or the search engine optimization is essential so that a large number of
customers can easily get to buy their products. Developing a strong SEO will enable the
company to appear in the maximum number of search engine results so that whenever the
customers type in the key words they are able to get the information about the products.
Pay Per Click or Pay Per Call (PPC)
IKEA must switch over to this strategy as this will be helping them to appear in the
advertisements that are appearing in the differing social media platforms like facebook, twitter

and also in many other platforms. However it must be noted that this can be a bit problematic for
the company as they will have to spend more money. This will; be helping them to advertise
their products in all the social media platforms like instagram, twitter
Email marketing
This is one of the most cost effective strategies that the company can use in order to market their
products. This marketing strategy also helps in developing a personal touch with the customers
(Todor, 2016). Thus it will be very good for the IKEA Company if they try to develop a personal
connection with the customers. They will have to carry on an in depth critical in depth analysis
about the needs and demands of their customers (Ziemba, Jankowski & Wątróbski, 2018). This
will be helping them to understand the ways in which they can connect with each of their
customers. This will help them to appeal to the customers at the personal level. This will be
helping them to develop a personal and a strong connection with all the customers scattered
across the world in different parts.
Different e-marketing campaigns
IKEA can use these themes in order to attract the customers so that the customers will be
able to increase the level of their purchase.
The furniture like the tables and chairs can be advertised by using the theme of
environmental conservation. This can be advertised on the social media sites. Face book, twitter
and instagram have become some of the most widely used platforms in the modern day scenario.
As a result of these the customers will naturally be the followers and the members of many such
pages that are advertised on the social media sites. The company IKEA can develop their
campaign through a video showing the manufacturing process in which they actually produce
their furniture. The company can also show the recycling procedures that they use in order to
stay true to their ethical customers or the customers who believe in the conservation of
environmental values.
The other campaign can be through some baby show where they will be showing the
child friendly products. This is because they have developed a new range of products that are
specially designed for being used by the working parents. They can show the Safe play – safe
children – safe products range of furniture through the baby shows that are telecasted on the

television. This will be a good and popular campaign for the company. This is because in the
modern day scenario all the families have working parents and they want their children to stay
safe. Thus these products will be in great demand by those customers. For an example they can
show how they develop the baby products like a child’s cot or other tools without the use of any
harmful chemicals.
They can develop some fitness campaign for the office employees. This campaign can be
reflected by using the social media platforms like twitter or face book. This will help the
company to advertise their products like desks, tables, chairs and other such implements that they
design for the office goers As the office goers form one of the large section of their customers
this marketing campaign will be popular for them. Thus some online fitness campaign will
attract the attention of customers.
They can develop some family planning campaigns through the television advertisement
where they will be showing how the family bonds become stronger. A home is a place where all
the family embers have to stay together and thus they look for a healthy and a safe place.
Develop interactive marketing communication
In the global market, Interactive marketing communication practices has become highly
popular in the market (Walther & Valkenburg, 2017). In order to triggering the behavioral
aspects of the customers, adopting the interactive communication marketing communication has
become important for the companies. In case of IKEA, it can be said that based on the IMC
practices, the traditional marketing practices can be converted towards the modern
communication practices in the market. In the above section, based on the thematic analysis,
Green model campaign has been chosen for improving the interactive marketing communication
process. The aim of green model campaign is to increase the awareness regarding climate
changes as well as increasing environmental degradation. The green model campaign will be
introduced in the market through different social media platforms, in which the ethical
consumers will be targeted.
Marketing objectives
 To increase the sales revenue 4% within coming 3 years

 To develop the interactive marketing practices by ensuring the strong existence on the
internet
 To increase the numbers of visitors in its official webpage for gaining competitive
advantage
In order to improve the interactive process and informing large numbers of visitors
regarding the eco-friendly initiatives of the company, the comments of Facebook users can be
properly reviewed. By reviewing both the negative and positive comments of the users, it can be
easier for IKEA to understand the actual thought process of the customers regarding the eco-
friendly initiatives. By continuing this, improving the communication, individuals’ quarry needs
to be solved in the comment section. By getting prompt reply against their quarries, the customer
satisfaction can be ensured, which can indirectly impact on its sales revenue.
With the effective introduction of 24hrs website support team, the page content can be
repeatedly updated. It can play an important role for making the customers engaged. In case of
improving the communication process, the website support team can highlight the frequent
viewers and introduce attractive discount offers (Walther & Valkenburg, 2017). In case of
retaining existing viewers in the website, sending link in their personal Facebook account
regarding the environmental initiatives of the company can be able to improve the interaction
process. Tallying the birth dates and wishing the customers in proper manner with the exiting
purchasing voucher can help the company to ensure its high sales rate.
Online customer survey can be considered as pone of the effective tactic that can help
the organizations to cover huge research area. It is true that by introducing the online survey
questionnaire by randomly selecting the customers through email, it can help to develop strong
relationship with the customers (Wiener, Shelton IV & Yates, 2019). By continuing this, it can
be said that it can help the company to understand the actual scenario in the market. In case of
online survey, customers will add their personal details, which can help to track the potential
customers of the company.
In the current marketing field, the celebrity endorsement has become one of the
important initiatives, which can bring noticeable impact on the marketing practices in the
company. In order to improve the interaction with the customers, weekly basis popular public

figure will be live from the company website, in which the customers can be able to directly ask
questions regarding their quarries on the particular initiative of the company (Walther &
Valkenburg, 2017). In this platform, people can also be able to upload their person al videos
regarding their feedbacks or environmental sustainability initiatives. It can be said that based on
this initiative, increasing interest of customers towards getting connected with the celebrities can
ensure IKEA strong existence on the internet.
Examining the E-sale quality for delivering the products of IKEA.
The company IKEA Australia has been performing well in the retail industry of
Australia, however, the online sales of IKEA has dime-a-dozen areas that need to be improved or
enhanced. The other competitive companies such as Walmart and Amazon have been known to
be competing fiercely with IKEA in terms of e-commerce and online sales. Therefore, IKEA has
to inculcate new changes and innovations in its e-commerce sphere.
1. IKEA has to perform brainstorming and needs to create new ideas about how it can reach
to their online customers fast and provide them with their functions in a more optimized
way than its competitors such as Amazon. The company should make solemn attempts to
deliver products and services to their customers in less time and more efficiently, and
must have clear, simple and fast solutions for refund and return processes and policies.
2. IKEA Australia has opened about eighty pop- up stores in the year 2018 as the company
had shifted its strategy from “blue boxes” to smaller format stores (Afr.com., 2018). The
company has tried to respond to the increasing demand of online shopping and e-
commerce and the changed purchasing habit of the new, urban and cosmopolitan
population of Australia. With the help of such initiative, IKEA had already declared that
it would generate more employment opportunities and chances of jobs to the tech- savvy
population by creating thousands of new job roles by opening 30 new smaller stores in
urban centers and expanding its fledgling online retailing operations. IKEA had been
trying hard to synergize its marketing operations through technology and has made
solemn attempts to fully utilize the boon of internet in their marketing strategies and
operations, which is apparently bringing success for the company (News.com.au., 2019).
3. The company IKEA, which is known for its massive collection of the most magnificent
and exquisite furniture, had been performing not up to the mark in case of its online

business transactions. IKEA is suggested to take up the “customer first strategy” which
the other competitors of the company, such as Amazon and Walmart are undertaking.
IKEA has to improve the credibility of its online sales in order to be an internationally
acclaimed company. The company has to appoint eminent digital marketing experts to
increase their online sales.
4. IKEA had always relied on the brick- and- mortar retailers. However, the company has to
take up the other source of marketing, which is e-commerce as internet nowadays is no
longer a sensation but a necessity. Credit goes to the internet and the latest wave of
innovative technology. The e-commerce is leaving an indelible footprint on the economy
that goes beyond purchasing a product from the comfort of one’s home. Other retailers
have been recently joining the e-commerce bandwagon to leverage the ever-growing
online market. IKEA, on realizing the nascent potential of the internet, has taken certain
steps, such as, it has opened their online business in about nearly twenty eight customer
countries (Forbes.com., 2018). In the year 2017, IKEA launched IKEA Place, which is a
user friendly app for the i-phone users. The app is a highly optimized one which allows
the customer to take a photo of a location in their homes, residences or offices where the
customer is needed to have an IKEA item placed. Once they take the photo, they can then
browse and add in lifelike pictures of furniture into the same picture to get an overview of
how the furniture might fit in their desired space. Once satisfied with the picture, it can
make your way to the IKEA website and place an order of the same product. According
to the statistics, in the country Australia, IKEA website had been experiencing over 40
million visits per year as reported in the business year of 2016. In the year 2017, the
website of the company IKEA reached almost more than 2.3 billion visits globally.
5. IKEA has invested a large amount of financial resources in content marketing. The
company has appointed eminent content writers who know what the consumers would be
attracted at in the websites (Ikea.com., 2019). With the help of eminent content makers
and digital marketers, the company has managed to create a sensation in the internet to
increase its popularity, though slow.
Conclusion
In this study, it can be concluded that strategic marketing has become one of the
important management in initiatives for ensuring the business growth in the global competitive

market. In order to ensure strong communication with the customers IKEA aims to introduce
various interaction initiatives. Reviewing all the interaction initiatives it can be assumed that if
the company can be able to properly introduce the interactive initiatives, it can be able to ensure
the customer engagement as well as strong existence of IKEA on the internet.

References:
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