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Ah, IKEA. We love your trendy, yet practical furniture and home decor. But, shopping online to get our retail fix is just too darn expensive! Who wants to spend at least $75 just for shipping? Well, word is out that IKEA may team up with Amazon to sell its popular furniture! Talk about an incredible retail partnership.
IKEA Testing Third-Party Online Sales
Reuters reports the company plans to test selling its merchandise beyond its own website.
“On digital platforms, we only sell our products through our own website, and there we also see that the competitive landscape is changing,” IKEA CEO Torbjorn Loof said.
In other words, other internet retailers (such as Amazon) draw too many customers away thanks to competitive shipping prices. IKEA wants to get their customers back and seems willing to finally break down the online shopping wall. So, now the international retailer plans to start testing new retail partners sometime in 2018.
“I leave unsaid on which (platforms), but we will test and pilot, to see ‘what does this mean, what does digital shopping look like in future and what do digital shopping centres mean?'” Loof said.
Watch Out For Amazon Third-Party Sellers
If you want to shop IKEA on Amazon, at least for now until any official partnership is unveiled, you need to watch carefully.
A quick search of Amazon pops up some interesting results.
What is that? Official IKEA bookshelves? Lamps? Yes, select items are now available through Amazon, and include some items eligible for free, two-day shipping! Hooray for Prime Memberships!
But, before you buy, be sure the seller is actually legitimate. Many people sign up as third-party sellers on Amazon. The problem? Some of these sellers inflate their prices.
For example, a RASKOG Utility Cart normally costs $24.99. However, two different third-party sellers listed the same cart for $59.95 and $185! Don’t get ripped off. Make sure to do some comparison shopping if you think you’ve found a good deal.
After all, the whole point of buying IKEA on Amazon is to save money, right? Happy shopping!