Starbucks' operation strategy

Soon, in 60 years, there are 180 chain stores in the world, distributed in 43 countries, with more than 70,000 employees. In fiscal year 2003, IKEA achieved sales revenue of 1 1 billion euros, and its net profit exceeded1/billion euros, making it the largest household goods retailer in the world.

Ikea's marketing strategy is a highlight of its management, and there are many places worth learning. Through the study of its marketing strategy, many aspects of its management can be connected in series.

1. IKEA's product strategy.

1, accurate product market positioning

IKEA's business philosophy is "to provide all kinds of beautiful and practical household items that ordinary people can afford".

From the beginning, IKEA decided to be on the side of "most" consumers of household products. This means that IKEA must meet the needs of people with different needs, tastes, dreams, pursuits and financial resources, and hope to improve their home conditions and create a better daily life. In view of this market positioning, IKEA products are positioned as "low price, exquisite and durable" household products.

In developed countries such as Europe and America, IKEA has positioned itself as a supplier of mass home products. Because of its cheap price, new style and good service, it is welcomed by the majority of low-income families.

However, after arriving in China, the market positioning has been adjusted to a certain extent, because: although the market in China is extensive, the general consumption level is low, the competition of the original low-priced furniture manufacturers is close to saturation, and there are few foreign high-priced furniture in the market. So IKEA turned its attention to the relatively wealthy class in big cities. IKEA's market positioning in China is "white-collar workers who want to buy high-end goods but can't afford high prices". This positioning is very clever and accurate, and has achieved good results for the following reasons:

As a global brand, IKEA has satisfied the psychology of white-collar workers in China.

Every corner of IKEA stores and business philosophy is full of exotic cultures;

Ikea furniture is characterized by customers' self-assembly, free large-scale publicity publications and free purchase.

These have attracted the attention of many intellectuals and white-collar workers, and the excellent product quality has also attracted more new customers and stabilized regular customers.

IKEA's product positioning and brand promotion are so successful in China that many white-collar workers in China regard "eating McDonald's, drinking Starbucks coffee and using IKEA furniture" as a fashion.

From 65438 to 0997, IKEA began to highlight children's demand for household items, because children also have great demand for household items, and the competition in this field is not fierce. In order to design products that are more suitable for children's needs, IKEA cooperates with two teams of experts to develop products. Child psychologists and children's game professors help IKEA design and develop products aimed at cultivating children's sports ability and creativity. At the same time, IKEA uses children to help it choose the winning products.

There are children's play areas in the IKEA exhibition hall, children's model rooms and children's food in the restaurant, which are loved by children and make them more willing to visit IKEA.

2. The product has a unique style and is beneficial to sales.

The products sold by IKEA are all designed by IKEA independently, and the product styles are different. IKEA emphasizes the unique style of "simplicity, naturalness, freshness and excellent design".

IKEA originated from Sweden (a forest country) in northern Europe, and its "simple, fresh and natural" product style also inherited the Nordic style. Both nature and home occupy an important position in people's lives. In fact, Swedish home style perfectly reproduces nature: full of sunshine and fresh breath, but not artificial.

The style of IKEA home products is the condensation of Swedish home design culture, which has a long history: 19 At the end of the year, artists Carl and Karin Larsen combined the classical style with Swedish folk customs, and they created a model of Swedish home design, which has been passed down to this day; In 1950s, with the development of modernism and pragmatism in Sweden. Today, what we see in IKEA products is: modern but not fashionable, very practical and novel, focusing on people-oriented, reflecting the ancient tradition of Swedish home in many ways.

Walk into the IKEA store and taste it carefully. Ikea's home products can be displayed from single items or from the whole home; From Robin's bed, bisk's desk to Bonger's cup, everything is simple, natural, primitive, well-designed, beautiful and practical. Compared with other manufacturers' household products, IKEA gives people the impression that it is a collection of the above advantages, and the above advantages are IKEA! This style of IKEA can really touch the hearts of most consumers and arouse people's desire to buy.

This style of IKEA runs through the whole process of product design, production, display and sales. In order to carry out this style and hope that its own brand and patented products can eventually cover the whole world, IKEA has always insisted on designing all its own products and owning its own patents. Every year, more than 65,438+000 designers work around the clock to ensure "all products and all patents".

In addition, IKEA's simple and natural product style also helps to form another advantage of IKEA, that is, low price, which we analyze in IKEA's price strategy.

3. The product design is exquisite and durable.

IKEA has always emphasized exquisite design, practicality and durability.

Of course, it is not difficult to simply design beautifully, but it is very difficult to achieve exquisiteness, practicality and high quality at the same time on the basis of low price.

IKEA has a large number of excellent designers to ensure the design of IKEA home products. They are not only experienced, but also able to work closely with experienced manufacturers to find ways to make full use of raw materials; At the same time, they are also familiar with how to produce low-cost furniture, while still maintaining the original design creativity.

The design of IKEA is novel and practical. For example, IKEA's "four seasons quilt" is a combination of three quilts, one is a warm and comfortable summer quilt, and the other is a moderately warm spring and autumn quilt. You can also put the two layers together, which is a quilt that keeps warm in winter. This design of IKEA is really original: before I saw this design of IKEA, who would have thought that it could be designed with quilts?

Another example is the MTP bookcase. This bookcase was designed by Marian Grabinski, consultant and designer of IKEA 1963. This kind of bookcase is modern and classic, beautiful and practical, which has brought huge profits to IKEA. It is a model of IKEA design and has attracted many manufacturers to imitate it for many years.

The durability of IKEA household products is also a major feature: for example, sofas can be squeezed by pressure for hundreds of thousands of times, and the doors of cabinets can be opened and closed for decades.

Of course, it takes a lot of efforts to make products exquisite and durable, from product design to material selection to technological process, but IKEA has done it.

4, a wide range of products

IKEA has a wide range of products, and IKEA * * * has more than 10000 products for customers to choose from. Basically, customers of any taste can buy the household products they need at IKEA.

The "wide range" of IKEA product range has the following meanings:

The first is a wide range of functions. Customers don't have to come back to different specialty stores to buy household items. At IKEA, you can find everything from living room furniture, toys, frying pans to tableware. From office furniture to green plants, in a word-all practical household items can be found at IKEA, and customers don't have to go from store to store.

Secondly, the range of styles is wide. People with different tastes can find what they like here. But IKEA's products are not all-inclusive, and IKEA has no products that are too extreme or exaggerated. IKEA provides the products needed to create a comfortable home environment.

In addition, through proper coordination, multiple functions and styles can be realized at the same time. No matter which style customers like, there will be an armchair with a bookcase, a bookcase with a new folding table and a new folding table with an armchair. So IKEA's "wide range" has multiple meanings.

Second, the low price strategy (price)

IKEA's business philosophy is "to provide all kinds of beautiful and practical household items that ordinary people can afford". This determines that IKEA should keep the price low on the basis of pursuing beautiful and practical products. In fact, IKEA has done the same: IKEA has always emphasized the low price strategy.

So how does IKEA achieve the low-price strategy on the basis of maintaining "beauty, practicality and diversity"? In fact, the low-price strategy runs through the whole process from product design to (modeling, material selection, etc.). ), OEM selection/management, logistics design and store management:

1, the concept of low price runs through product design.

IKEA's low price strategy runs through the design of products. Ikea's R&D system is very unique, which can combine low cost with high efficiency.

1) IKEA's low-cost design concept and modular design method.

Ikea's design philosophy is "products with the same price are cheaper than anyone's design cost", so designers often focus on whether to use a screw less or whether to use an iron bar more economically, which not only has the benefit of reducing costs, but also often produces excellent ideas.

Ikea invented a "modular" furniture design method (IKEA's furniture is split and assembled, and the products are divided into different modules and designed in blocks. Different modules can be produced in different regions according to the cost; At the same time, some modules can also be used in different furniture rooms, which can not only reduce the design cost, but also reduce the total cost of products.

2) Determine the cost before designing the product.

There is a saying in IKEA: "The first thing we design is the price tag". Just before the designer designs the product, IKEA has set a relatively low selling price and cost for the product, and then within this cost, we will do everything possible to be exquisite and practical. For example, Pia Eldin Lindsten, a designer and product developer of Bonger Cup, was given the task of designing a new type of cup in 1996, and she was also told how much the cup should cost in the shopping mall. As far as Bunger cups are concerned, the price must be surprisingly low-only 5 Swedish kronor. In other words, IKEA decided before the design that the price of this cup must be able to really knock down all competitors.

3) Pay attention to teamwork in product design.

It is difficult to complete the exquisite design, material selection and production cost estimation of the manufacturer at a very low price only by relying on the designer himself. Behind the designer is a research and development team, which includes designers, product developers and purchasers. These people work closely together to make the optimal solutions of various performance variables within a certain cost range. Together, they discuss product design, materials used and choose suitable suppliers. Everyone uses their own expertise to play a role in this process-for example, the role of purchasing personnel is that they have a good relationship with suppliers all over the world, so they know better which supplier can produce this product at the right time and at the right price and ensure the highest quality.

4) In order to save costs, everything can be considered.

Design is the key link, which directly affects the material selection, technology, storage and transportation of products, and also has a great influence on the price. Therefore, the design team of IKEA must fully consider all aspects of products from production to sales.

Or take the design of Bonger Cup as an example: In order to produce a cup that meets the requirements at a low price, designer Pia and his colleagues must fully consider factors such as material, color and design, such as:

The color of the cup is green, blue, yellow or white, because the cost of these pigments is lower than other colors (such as red);

In order to reduce the cost of storage, transportation and production. The designer Pia finally designed the Bong Cup into a special conical shape, because this shape enables the Bong Cup to pass through the machine in the shortest time, thus achieving the effect of cost saving;

The size of Bonger cups enables manufacturers to put the largest number of cups in the oven at one time, thus saving production time and cost.

IKEA's pursuit of cost is endless-IKEA later redesigned the Bonger Cup. Compared with the original cups, the height of the new cups is smaller, and the shape of the cup handle is improved, which can be stacked more effectively, thus saving the space occupied by cups in transportation, storage, store display and customer cabinets-in short, the cost is further reduced.

2. IKEA keeps innovating to reduce costs.

IKEA constantly adopts new materials and technologies to improve product performance and reduce prices. Take the chair of Ogras as an example-

In the eyes of IKEA people, Augras is a nearly perfect chair: beautiful, strong, light and practical. At first, with the change of the market, the price of chair wood in Ogras became too high, so flat packaging was adopted to reduce the cost. When flat packaging can't meet the requirements of low cost, IKEA designers use composite plastics instead of wood; Later, in order to further reduce costs, IKEA introduced a new technology into the furniture industry-by injecting gas into composite plastics, materials were saved, weight was reduced, and products could be produced faster (and flat packaging could be implemented for products).

From Augras chair, you can see IKEA's efforts in cost.

Another famous innovation example is Cupid storage unit: 1994 Cupid storage unit started production, which is one of the earliest products made by IKEA using frame boards. Ikea adopts cupboard door production technology to make Cupis stronger, lighter and cheaper. The designer was inspired by the manufacturer of doors with framed panels, and he designed the Cupis storage unit.

3. In order to reduce the cost, cooperate closely with OEM.

The cooperation with OEM is manifested in two aspects: first, in the process of product design; Second, in the production of products.

In the process of product development and design, the design team works closely with suppliers. With the help of manufacturers, IKEA may find cheaper alternative materials, shapes and sizes, and it is easier to reduce costs. As far as the Bonger Cup is concerned, the designer redesigned its shape and size at the suggestion of the main engine factory, which can make better use of the space in the firing process, rationalize the production and reduce the cost.

After the product design is completed, in order to persuade OEMs to invest in the necessary equipment, IKEA promises them a certain number of orders. In this way, manufacturers are willing to buy equipment to produce IKEA products. As far as IKEA is concerned, save investment.

Of course, there are times when we are in trouble. A few years ago, IKEA had to take back a children's toy and ordered to stop production-this toy's eyes were in danger of falling off, which was not good for children's safety. However, the suspension of production brought another problem: this toy was produced by a factory in India, which had 600 employees, and at one time 600 workers were unemployed. In order to maintain this cooperative relationship with customers and fulfill its promise, IKEA sent designer Anna to the factory to check the situation and see what the solution is.

Anna looked at the factory and the materials used. She cooperated with suppliers to develop a series of brand-new products. Two weeks later, she returned to Sweden with Farm's, a beautiful cushion with arms, which was immediately loved by IKEA people and customers.

The mats on the farm were a great success. What's more worth mentioning is that customers have great demand for this product, and it is not enough to rely on the original 600 employees of the factory. Later, the factory recruited many new employees.

This responsible attitude of IKEA makes suppliers willing to cooperate with it, and also enables IKEA's product strategy of "high quality and low price" to be implemented smoothly.

4. IKEA cooperates with customers to create low prices.

Ikea also regards customers as partners: customers browse product catalogs, visit IKEA supermarkets, choose furniture and pick up goods in their own warehouses. Because most goods are packed in flat plates, customers can easily take them home and assemble them independently. In this way, customers save some expenses (delivery, assembly and transportation) and enjoy low prices; Ikea, on the other hand, saved the cost and kept the advantage of low price.

5. IKEA's global production management and logistics system is conducive to reducing costs.

In terms of product cost, IKEA not only cooperates with OEM suppliers, but also encourages competition among suppliers. Ikea also tends to award orders to manufacturers with lower overall prices-IKEA will consider the lowest overall cost when selecting product suppliers. That is to say, the calculation is based on the product cost delivered to each central warehouse, and then the supplier is selected according to the potential sales volume of each sales area and other factors such as quality and capacity.

In order to further reduce the price, IKEA has adjusted its global production layout-IKEA has nearly 2,000 suppliers (including its own factories) around the world, and suppliers transport all kinds of products from the world to IKEA's global central warehouse, and then transport them from the central warehouse to various shopping malls for sale. Due to the changing sales of different products in different places, IKEA is constantly adjusting the global distribution of its production orders, such as:

The central warehouse of IKEA Asia-Pacific is located in Malaysia, and all products going to China shopping malls must be shipped to Malaysia first. This purchasing method reduces the overall cost of IKEA. But for China, the cost is high, especially for furniture, the freight will reach 30% of the total cost, which will directly affect the final pricing.

With the increasing proportion of Asian market, especially China market, IKEA produces more and more products or parts of products in Asia, which will greatly reduce the impact of freight on costs. At present, IKEA is implementing a retail product selection plan, that is, several products are selected by China shopping malls, then produced by suppliers in China, and then directly delivered to stores. Facts have proved that this plan is very successful.

Nick's folding chair, for example, was originally produced in Thailand, first shipped to Malaysia, and then transshipped to China. The purchase price is equivalent to RMB 34 yuan, but after arriving in China, the cost has reached 66 yuan. Plus the operating cost of the mall, the final price is 99 yuan. The annual sales volume is only over 65,438+0,000 pieces per year. After the implementation of the plan, the purchase price in China is RMB in 30 yuan, and the cost of delivery to stores increases to 34 yuan. The retail price of the mall is set at 59 yuan, which is lower than that of 40 yuan before, and the annual sales volume has soared to 654.38+0.2 million.

6, flat packaging strategy to reduce costs

In storage and transportation, IKEA adopts flat packaging to reduce the damage rate of furniture during storage and transportation and occupy warehouse space; More importantly, flat packaging greatly reduces the transportation cost of products, making it possible to carry out large-scale layout production on a global scale. It is said that the inspiration for flat packaging came from an early employee of IKEA-he had a whim and decided to remove the legs of the table so that it could be put in the car to avoid damage during transportation. Since then, IKEA has started to consider flat packaging in its design. Flat packaging further reduces the price of the product. At the same time, IKEA has also begun to form a working mode, that is, turning "problems into opportunities".

Of course, the same flat packaging, IKEA designers still have to consider how to design products in the process of product design in order to minimize the cost of production, storage and transportation.

Third, the unique style of "store display" channel strategy (place)

1, self-built store control channel

Ikea's channel strategy is to open stores independently around the world, monopolize the products designed and produced by IKEA itself, directly face consumers and control the terminal sales channels of products. IKEA has more than 180 chain stores in more than 40 countries around the world.

2. Successfully make IKEA store a symbol of lifestyle.

Ikea is a brand of furniture store and furniture. Through a series of operations, the IKEA store has become more than just a place to buy household goods in people's eyes, it represents a way of life, so you won't be surprised when you see young people pursuing fashion walking out of the IKEA store with shopping bags printed with IKEA logo-many domestic businesses have tried to do so, but they have failed. We believe that the success of IKEA lies not only in the integration of business flow and logistics, but also in its core concept-lifestyle. As we said before, in people's minds, using IKEA has become a symbol of lifestyle, just like eating McDonald's and drinking Starbucks coffee.

Fourth, Promotion strategy (promotion)

1, the catalogue shows the marketing strategy.

Catalogue display is an important part of IKEA's promotion strategy, which greatly promotes IKEA's product sales. 195 1 year, IKEA released the first catalogue. Since then, every year at the beginning of September and the beginning of the new fiscal year, IKEA has to distribute beautifully made catalogues to consumers free of charge.

These catalogues not only list the photos and prices of products, but also show the features of IKEA products from the aspects of functionality and aesthetics through careful design by designers, from which customers can find inspiration and practical solutions for home layout. Many people use the IKEA catalogue as a decoration guide.

2. Stores display rich skills to promote purchases.

IKEA's store display is full of skills. In the exhibition area of IKEA, there is a separate display unit to show the unique effects of different furniture in different functional areas. Every IKEA store has a group of professional decorators who are responsible for making frequent adjustments to the exhibition area. The basic requirement of adjustment is to conform to the situation of ordinary people's home life. For example, the height of the back wall is 2.9 meters, which is the height of an ordinary house. Too high or too low will give customers an illusion and make a wrong purchase decision. The color of the background wall must also be neutral and conform to the habits of daily life. Will not use some special colors to compare the performance of furniture, so that customers have the illusion. Each display unit is marked with the actual area. These are based on the needs of customers, who can move the exhibition area home intact and get the same effect as in the mall.

Some people call this unit display (functional area display) strategy "vivid marketing" because this display method is lively and fully shows the on-site effect of each product. On the other hand, this layout of the store can produce the effect of "joint purchase"-it is the overall display of the bedroom layout rather than a single display, so it is easy to produce the effect of "joint purchase".

3. Corporate image positioning and publicity in coordination with product positioning.

IKEA advocates a "simple, natural and fashionable" lifestyle. IKEA's business philosophy is "to provide all kinds of beautiful and practical household items that ordinary people can afford". Other home shopping malls offer a wide range of products, either beautifully designed and practical products or low-priced products. The products provided by IKEA contain all these characteristics. This is the business philosophy of IKEA. Ikea's home style perfectly reproduces nature-full of sunshine and fresh breath, but not artificial. "All these have formed the irreplaceable brand charm of IKEA.

4. IKEA pays attention to corporate image promotion.

One of the marketing strategies of IKEA Group is to enhance the corporate image by paying attention to environmental protection.

About 10 years ago, IKEA Group began to participate in environmental protection in a planned way, involving materials and products, forests, suppliers, transportation, shopping mall environment and so on. 1990, which established the first environmental protection policy of IKEA; 199 1 year implemented strict regulations on the use of tropical trees; 1992 banning the use of CFCs and HCFCs; IKEA products and their production processes are harmful to the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere; 1995 adopts strict standards to control the use of azo dyes; 1998 IKEA has reviewed all IKEA transportation equipment in Europe according to environmental standards ... In 2000, in order to promote the sustainable development of forestry, IKEA funded a forestry research in Sweden. ...

These measures have won IKEA a good social reputation and brand image.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) Customer-oriented marketing strategy (customer)

Ikea has always been marketing with customers as the center, which is obvious in the low-price strategy. Of course, IKEA's customer orientation is also manifested in many other aspects.

1, product design pays attention to customer needs.

When developing and designing new products, IKEA attaches great importance to involving front-line personnel in the design process, because only they know the needs of customers better; In addition, a large part of IKEA's product developers come directly from the retail department, have experience in dealing with customers directly, and have a better understanding of customers' needs.

2. The humanized layout of the store

The layout of IKEA stores shows its emphasis on customers. Ikea's store design has its own standard specifications. After entering the mall, there are arrows on the floor to guide customers to visit the whole mall in the best order. The exhibition area is next to the main passage, and the depth of the exhibition area will not exceed 4 meters, ensuring that customers will not walk for too long. The exhibition area is arranged in the order of living room, dining room, studio, bedroom, kitchen, children's products and dining room. This order is based on the customer's habits. The living room is the most important, the dining room is the place where people deal with daily things, followed by the home office, and the bedroom is the last large furniture area. -This display mode is conducive to giving customers an overall display of decorative effects; It is also conducive to joint procurement; Buy a lot of things.

3. Humanized care for customers

When shopping at IKEA, customers can save money by themselves-choose their own products, take them home and assemble their own furniture. You can also make an appointment with IKEA interior decoration architects and designers, excellent kitchen designers, etc. And ask them to help design a new house or put forward suggestions for transforming the old residence.

A relaxed and comfortable shopping atmosphere is a common feature of more than 80 IKEA stores around the world. Ikea encourages customers to "open drawers, open doors, walk on carpets, or try whether beds and sofas are strong." In this way, you will find how comfortable it is to rest on the IKEA sofa. "If you need help, you can ask the clerk, but unless you ask the clerk for help, the IKEA clerk won't bother you, so you can browse quietly, browse the mall and make shopping decisions easily and freely.

Contrary to the warning that domestic furniture stores often mark "Don't sit on samples" on sofas and Simmons beds, in IKEA, all products that can sit are not allowed to sit on the couch for interview. When the traffic is heavy on weekends, the sofas in the IKEA sofa area are almost full of people. The showroom of "Sandburg" sofa and "Golicosta" dining chair sold by IKEA also specially reminds customers: "Please sit on it! Feel how comfortable it is! "

Ikea always reminds customers "Look at the label: on the label, you will see the purchase guide, maintenance method and price." For example, on the label of "Four Seasons Quilt" sold by IKEA, it says:

"Four-season quilts, three-in-one quilts, one is a cool and comfortable summer quilt, and the other is a warm spring and autumn quilt. You can also put the two layers together, which is a quilt that keeps warm in winter. Filler of quilt core: 65% duck down, 35% duck hair, and the jacket of quilt core is 100% cotton. You can wash it with 60 degrees warm water in all seasons, or you can dry it with a dryer. "

Ikea's "store guide" reads: "Please rest assured that you have 14 days to consider whether to return the goods." Within 14 days, if you are not satisfied with the purchased goods, you can also go to IKEA for exchange or refund.

If you don't know how to choose a carpet, IKEA will tell you in the form of a cartoon: "Choose our carpet in such a simple way": first, turn the carpet over and look at its back; The second is to unfold the carpet and look inside; The third is to fold the carpet and see how it bulges; The fourth is to roll up the carpet and see how it looks.

Before making a shopping decision, every customer will definitely feel at a loss if he knows nothing about the characteristics of the goods he buys. On the contrary, the more comprehensive and true he knows about the goods, the easier it is for him to make a purchase decision. Ikea did a really good job.

4, DIY (do it yourself) way

The most talked-about feature of IKEA is DIY, and all IKEA furniture needs to be assembled by customers themselves. IKEA has very specific installation instructions for all furniture, and customers can easily assemble furniture according to the instructions, which not only saves the handling fee, but also increases the fun of hands-on. In addition, flat packaging saves costs for IKEA and is convenient for customers to buy, transport and move.