A new catalogue has landed and a new era begins for the store. Following our restructure, most people started in their new positions on October 8. All in all, I’m very pleased; we’ve got off to a good start. Quite a few people have been here for a while and are familiar with the business. However, a lot is new to them and they are still finding their feet.
As part of the restructure, we have put more staff on the shopfloor and are continuing to recruit for shopfloor positions.
At this time of year, it’s all about maximising sales. The new catalogue has certainly been successful and footfall is high – we have to try and find the best ways to sell as much as possible. There is increasing competition in the home furnishings sector, but Ikea has its own identity within it and the catalogue reflects that.
We have also changed a lot in preparation for the catalogue and now it’s a case of evaluating that and, if we didn’t make the right changes, doing what we need to do to rectify them.
And, of course, the retail sector is turning its attention towards Christmas. We’re not a natural first choice for gifts, but that doesn’t mean we ignore the opportunities that the festive season offers. More central to our thinking is what Christmas means to our customers – usually, extra guests, which in turn means extra beds and chairs. People also buy a lot of TVs and DVD players. We don’t sell those, but we do sell storage solutions for them.
In a nutshell, it’s about adapting our offer to the needs of our customer.
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