Sweden's Ikea steps up online, offline integration pace in China

Sweden's Ikea, the world's largest furniture retailer, is opening more stores and distribution centers and launching online services in 149 Chinese cities as part of its ongoing efforts to integrate online and offline retail channels in the nation, a top executive said on Thursday.

In an interview, Anna Pawlak Kuliga, CEO and president of Ikea Retail China, said that the company will also scale up its investments over the next 12 months in China. "This year we are going to have several breakthroughs in China. Many things that we are doing now are not what we would have done in the past 20 years," said Kuliga.

As part of the efforts, Ikea has set up a new experience center in the capital adjacent to the Wukesong subway station on Line 1. The pickup center, which is essentially the renovation of pickup points where customers come to order and get deliveries later, has an expanded floor area of 1,900 square meters, more products, tailor-made home design solutions, catering and play areas for children.