ASSESSMENT PROBLEMS AND COUNTERMEASURES IN MARKETING STRATEGIES OF FURNITURE ENTERPRISES UNDER E-COMMERCE ENVIRONMENT-TAKING IKEA (CHINA) AS AN EXAMPLE

李潤堯

1. Background

1.1 Analysis of IKEA

IKEA， founded by Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden in 1943， and settled in China in 1998， has become the worlds largest furniture and household products company， mainly selling about 10，000 products including chair/sofa series， office supplies， bedroom/kitchen/cooking series， children's products series to name but a few. It is known as its Scandinavian style. There are 374 Ikea stores in 30 countrys markets all over the world. “Create a better daily life for the masses” is the direction that IKEA has been longing for since its inception.

In June 2019， Brandz released Top 100 most Valuable Brands in the world in 2019， and Ikea ranked at 76 with its brand value nearly at 190 million dollars. However， although rising to no. 72 in the rankings， IKEAs annual change in the value of brand fell by 5%. With the vigorous development of the e-commerce environment， the traditional sales model of the furniture industry has had a profound impact， and the traditional sales channels have been unable to meet the needs of the diversified furniture market. How to better integrate into the e-commerce era and stand out in the fierce market competition has become an issue that furniture enterprises must think about.

1.2 Analysis of e-commerce situationin China

China has the world's largest market for Internet e-commerce users.With the upgrading of Internet functions and the perfection and launch of abundant applications， as well as the popularization of smart phones， the number of Internet users in China has been rising rapidly year by year.This shows that any future business model cannot be separated from the trend and tide of the Internet.At the same time， the following market competition will be more and more fierce， online operating costs have also increased step by step.

1.3Analysis ofhousehold market industry in China

As a result of a few years before the real estate market continues to be hot， many well-known household hypermarkets began in the country's major central cities to launch a “l(fā)and war”.Under the background of barbaric development， the total area of domestic home furnishing stores has exceeded 50 million square meters at present， even more than 50% of the area of stores is surplus， in the future of a very long stage， stores have to start survival of the fittest and integration.In a long time， the number and area of stores will still be in the situation of continuous surplus.

Besides，in recent years， customization and environmental protection have become a new trend in the development of the furniture industry. Intelligent manufacturing based on “Internet +”， big data and various digital technologies makes it possible to develop personalized customization， as well as apply environment-friendly materials.

Furthermore， those simple furniture with multi-functionshave become the mainstream fashion pursuit. IKEA takes advantage of its own design advantages （Nordic style） and has a certain position in the furniture retail industry.

2.Research Methods

2.1 Marketingstrategy

Marketing strategy is a process in which the Marketing Department of an enterprise determines the target market， selects the corresponding marketing strategy combination， and effectively implements and controls it according to the strategic planning and on the basis of comprehensive consideration of external market opportunities and internal resource conditions.

2.2Specific methods：

● Literature research method： By virtue of reading a large number of professional literature and consulting domestic and foreign websites， I understand the current situation of furniture market environment， especially on marketing. The data of furniture industry， literature and internal information of IKEA company were collected carefully， which provided the foundation for the objective study of this topic.

● Fieldwork analysis method： Visit IKEA and other well-known enterprises in the furniture industry to experience the marketing strategies of the furniture industry and the services of cross-industry e-commerce and logistics enterprises.

● Comparative analysis：Through the comparison of production and status quo， theory and practice both in domestic and foreign markets， I attempt to find a reasonable and complete solution and improvement scheme.

● Inductive method： The collected data are summarized and sorted out， and the innovative method of furniture marketing is explored through sorting out the elements of furniture industry reconstruction;

● Analysis and Summary Induction：

● SWOT

SWOT analysis is used to analyze the opportunities and threats of IKEAs external environment and the advantages and disadvantages of its internal environment. Through this， conclusion is made to indicate the strategic direction for the development of marketing strategies.

● The Four Ps of Marketing+4I+6P

The four Ps of marketing are the key factors that are involved in the marketing of a good or service. They are the product， price， place， and promotion of a good or service. Often referred to as the?marketing mix， the four Ps are constrained by internal and external factors in the overall business environment， and they interact significantly with one another.

3. Status quo （Problems）

3.1 Marketing status of IKEA

Mission statement： IKEAs business philosophy starts from providing affordable home decoration products for the public. It combines the business philosophy of function， quality， design and value. IKEA has always been committed to “providing as many customers as possible with well-designed， functional， and affordable household items that they can afford”.

Product design： While focusing on individuation， IKEA is quickly recognized by consumers in China through its unique design， environmental protection concept and novelty brought by Nordic style in product design.

Experiential marketing： Besides， IKEA takes experiential marketing to the extreme.Its product layout is not to present the same products together， but to create many showrooms. IKEA through the overall creation to catch consumers eyes， stimulate their desire.

Flat packing：IKEA is known for its obsession with “flat pack”， famously saying “we don't want to spend money on air”.Flat packing means more loading， fewer trips and lower CO2 emissions. The concept has been at the heart of IKEA ever since the company first introduced self-assembled furniture in 1956.

3.2 Problems

3.2.1 The insufficient development of offline physical market leads to the long distance between storage warehouses and most third-tier and fourth-tier cities or even first-tier and second-tier cities. （4Ps-place）

3.2.2 Differences in consumer quality. The phenomenon of uncivilized in offline physical stores has frequently damaged the image of IKEA and even the furniture industry in recent years. （SWOT-weakness）

3.2.3 There are difficulties in assembling large pieces of furniture. The assembly methods， tools and convenience are not satisfactory.（4Ps-product）

4. Countermeasures

4.1 Take advantage of the trend of e-commerce to develop online modules. （SWOT-opportunity）

Make full use of big data and high and new technologies to develop online platforms of various ways.

4.1.1 Application of high and new technology.

Promote the application of VR technology， teleport the products from offline stores to customers' homes.The furniture assembly process can be shown to reduce the area of offline stores while reducing the frequency of return and replacement.

4.1.2 Expand sales promotion and publicity channels. （4Ps-promotion）

Set up a well-known promotion day on IKEAs app which is similar to the Double Eleven， and carry out full reduction promotion activities to stimulate sales.Or increase the entry into Taobao， Jingdong and other efforts.

4.2 Improve logistics level.（4Ps-place）

4.2.1 Given the cost， IKEA can choose to build warehouses in areas far from the business districts of undeveloped cities， rather than those large， costly booths of malls in first-tier cities.

4.2.2 Cooperate with domestic basic professional logistics companies for fast and safe transportation.Or like Jingdong to develop their own logistics transport industry， increase investment， orders WeChat tracking at any time， warehousing management order management logistics management into an organic whole.

4.3 Enhance customers satisfaction.

Maintaining existing customers costs a quarter as much as creating new ones. It can greatly enhance the enterprise's brand reputation and form high-quality referral flow.

4.3.1 Active tracking care （interactive communication）

Through the refinement and training of caring terms， conducts more communication with customers to improve the temperature of the brand and users.Build and build brand service word-of-mouth， track customer product use quality and send timely and accurate greetings such as birthday and housewarming;

4.3.2 Responsive service （instant message）

Accurately understand customer needs， conduct statistical integration and analysis of customer information， and push interested information through messages， WeChat， even e-mail， etc.

4.3.3Member management（Individual identification， interactive communication， instant message）

Implementing VIP hierarchical management and incentive rules for customers：

a. Targeted promotion of cost-effective decoration knowledge， promotion of brand and quality assurance of alliance members.

b.Regularly provides on-site maintenance services for users， and recordsphotos for forwarding.

c.Organize public benefit activities to enhance brand influence.

d. Membership welfare incentives and measures can be set.

4.3.4 Customer portrait（Individual identification）

Based on the four dimensions of natural characteristics， interest characteristics， social characteristics and consumption characteristics， and build onthe customer's age， occupation， income， hobbies， family， health， etc.， IKEA can distinguish high value， medium value and low value customers， so as to develop precision marketing and communication strategies and maximize the brand value.

4.4 The design tends to be personalized， functionally diverse and customized. （4Ps-product）

4.4.1 Personalized design. （I personality）

With the booming of e-commerce， the age group of users who tend to shop onlineis mostly between 18 and 40 years old. They are the advocates of pursuing fashion and experiencing consumer culture.Personalized design can enhance people's visual impact， so that the product stands out in the numerous goods， increase the added value of the product.

4.4.2 Functionally diverse design.

The vast majority of online buyers still live in cramped rooms. On top of When they buyfurniture to decorative， beautiful， sweet， they take economy actual strength into consideration as well. Thus， multi-function furniture can be first selection normally.

4.4.3 Custom modularization. （I personality）

Being different from completely customized， custom modularization proceed fromthe overall. The designer first carries on the thorough classification research to the majority consumer demand， designs the original module according to the demand different level through the single module combination way change to combine the different furniture function. Or the internal structure can be changed in advance to achieve a multi-purpose purpose.

5. Conclusion

In a nutshell， even if the furniture industry has been developing for many years in china （IKEA - almost 25 years） with a relatively solid foundation， it is quite essential for those enterprises to Constantly adjust to the Times and the needs of consumers. On account of fixed in the market environment without positive changes is equal to the active acceptance of elimination under this fickle and unpredictable circumstance.

Therefore， under the new situation of e-commerce， furniture enterprises should realize the importance of marketing channel innovation， combine with the basic situation of their own enterprises at multiple levels， and form a closer relationship with consumer customers.Only in this way， on the basis of traditional marketing channels， can promote their own marketing level， create more economic benefits， and better meet the basic needs of consumers.This requires furniture enterprises to timely analyze the characteristics and changes of the marketing environment， so as to take targeted management measures， in order to make furniture enterprises in an invincible position in the increasingly fierce competition in the marketing environment.

Specifically， in addition to the development of offline physical store innovation， household industry has not interacted enough with the internet. Massive amount of accurate information and convenient communication online， scene experience with human touch， professional design and humanized services offline， both sides mutual enabling is imperative for the whole furniture retailing industry.

（寧夏大學(xué) 750021）