IKEA to test furniture leasing in 30 markets during 2020

In 2018, 8.7 million IKEA products were re-packed to be re-sold instead of going to waste and over 1 million orders of spare parts were handled to help repair products for a longer life. These are just two examples of the many initiatives run by IKEA to support the move towards a circular business model, a move in line with the IKEA ambition to become a circular and climate positive business by 2030. 

“Our future success will lie in our ability to reshape and improve our business model in all aspects. Testing out opportunities for leasing offers is one of the ways we are challenging ourselves to deliver on our transformation strategy, and become a more affordable, accessible and sustainable business. Climate change and unsustainable consumption are among the biggest challenges we face in society – business development like this shows how we are working hard to deliver to our vision to create a better everyday life for the many people,” says Jesper Brodin, CEO, Ingka Group. 

Ingka Group has undertaken consumer research, listening to people’s views on sustainable living and exploring how belongings come into the home, live in the home and how they are passed on. Explorations and tests have been initiated in the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Poland. The aim is to develop subscription-based leasing offers that enables the company to maintain ownership of the product to secure reuse as many times as possible before material and component recycling at the end of life. 

“This is a huge opportunity for us to bring together our life at home knowledge and commitment to sustainable living in a way that is highly relevant for many customers around the world”, says Pia Heidenmark Cook, Chief Sustainability Officer, Ingka Group.