IKEA Retail sets up new Global Office in India

As part of creating a new IKEA to become even more sustainable, accessible and affordable to the many people, IKEA Retail (Ingka Group), has further strengthened its commitment to India. The company is investing in a new global office to operate within the areas of Global Business Operations (GBO), Digital, and Centres of Expertise (CoE) which will help streamline, simplify, and standardise ways of working and operations, while diversifying the overall digital footprint. The availability of a large talent pool in India is one of the key reasons behind selecting the global office. The office will operate from the Karle Special Economic Zone, in Bengaluru.

IKEA has been sourcing from India for 35+ years as part of its global supply chain. IKEA works with approximately 50 suppliers and employs 400,000 people across the value chain. In 2018, IKEA opened its first India store in Hyderabad. Today, IKEA has an online presence in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune. The second store in Mumbai is under construction. The company will also open smaller format city centre stores and expand its online presence in other Indian cities in the future. Recently, the company launched Click & Collect Services in Hyderabad, which is safe and contactless. The aim is to reach approximately 100 million consumers in India over the next few years through a multichannel approach.

GBO is a capability and service organisation, responsible for implementing modern tools to meet growing business demands as well as to increase employee satisfaction. The GBO is a key partner for group functions such as Finance, Digital, Procurement and People & Culture to transform, operate and continuously improve ways of working. In addition to Bengaluru, the GBO operates in Poznan (Poland), Shanghai (China) and Baltimore (US). Digital, which is co-located with GBO in Bengaluru, will be a focal point and centre for digital development, innovation and operations. In addition, The Centres of Expertise (CoE) will provide leadership, best practices, research, support and training.

Lalitha  Indrakanti, Head of Global Business Operations for Ingka Group, said, “India now joins our network of strong locations situated at strategic parts of the world with the establishment of GBO. India is not only a growing retail destination for us but also one of the strongest markets when it comes to global business operations capabilities. India is central to our growth plans and the GBO will help simplify, standardise and modernise customer and business transactions, procurement operations, financial reporting and people operations. We have long-term growth plans and plan to expand over time.”  
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ncreasingly, the company has placed a large focus on building digital competencies required to fulfill growing ecommerce demands. Divya Kumar, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Group Digital for Ingka Group, based in the Bengaluru added,” With a move towards a new digital IKEA, the organisation is excited to explore and connect with the excellent digital competence in India. This will provide the knowledge, the capacity, and the stimulus to drive continuous improvement and innovation to the business and the transformation. The new teams will join IKEA in the journey of providing an excellent experience to our customers seamlessly, across all channels.”