IKEA starts in Switzerland with the rental of office furniture, says CEO Torbjörn Lööf in an interview in the Financial Times.
IKEA has been working on developing new business models for some time now. Recently, in Canada the company started with the purchase of previously sold products, which were subsequently offered in the shops of the furniture giant.
Inspire and enable people
By offering leasing models on a subscription basis, the company expects to become more sustainable and to extend the life of its products considerably.
A spokeswoman of IKEA says : “At Ingka Group, we have an ambition to inspire and enable people to play an active role in making the circular economy a reality, which we can support by developing new ways for people to buy, care for and pass on products. In certain markets, such as Switzerland, we’re exploring and testing potential solutions and have a pilot project to look into the leasing of furniture, but it’s still too early to confirm exactly what this will look like.“
She continues “In order to become a fully circular business by 2030, this can only be achieved through collaboration. In addition to working with customers to find appealing and accessible solutions that enable them to live more sustainably, we are also partnering with stakeholders to work together and share experiences.”
Extending lifespan
IKEA is developing several models to extend the lifespan of their products
– Recovery teams in every store – repairing and re-packaging products that have been damaged in transit, so that they can be sold and not go to waste.
– Second life return options – customers can return a wide variety of our products, including furniture, to many of our stores for resale or donation to charity.
– Spare parts – In 2018, IKEA handled over 1 million orders of spare parts to help repair products for a longer life.