Swedish home furnishings retailer IKEA has collaborated with services mobile app UrbanClap as furniture assembly service partner for IKEA's first retail outlet in India. The Swedish company will open its store of about 400,000 square feet property in Hyderabad in a few months. IKEA will train the carpenters listed on UrbanClap’s platform. UrbanClap said that it will provide 30-day service guarantee and insurance against damages. IKEA usually offers flat packed furniture with Do it yourself (DIY) concept. As part of this collaboration, consumers purchasing IKEA furniture from the store will be able to book furniture assembly services via the UrbanClap app or website. Founded in 2014, UrbanClap claims to currently offer 107 types of services on its platform. It’s available in 15 cities in cities in India, and now also in Dubai. As of May 2018, the company claims to have served 3 million customers till now. Siladitya adds: While the appeal of this partnership is understandable the whole thing comes across as a bit odd. The appeal of IKEA furniture globally is that it is cheap to buy, you get a massive catalogue and most importantly assembly is DIY. Is Ikea assuming that Indians don't want to assemble their furniture? Does it think they won't be able to? Like other global budget/everyday brands that have come to India before (H&M, Starbucks etc), IKEA might be positioning itself as more of an aspirational brand and maybe that figures into the decision to have a partnership with a third party for furniture…
