12 Secrets That IKEA Doesn’t Want to Reveal to Their Customers

There are almost 400 IKEA stores in 48 countries, and it seems like IKEA furniture has long become a part of our everyday lives — it’s as ubiquitous and invisible as air. We’ve already written that this retailer owes its huge success, among other things, to numerous tricks that make us turn off our common sense, and turn on our desire to sweep everything off the shelves. But that’s not all. Here is the second part of our little investigation into the work of this chain of stores.

This time, Bright Side tried to unearth IKEA’s internal secrets, which were given out by an accident (or maybe on purpose) by former employees or disclosed by curious journalists.

Fast routes through the store change frequently.

This is done due to the fact that clients eventually remember all of the secret passages and begin to actively use them. So to combat this, employees constantly change them. This fact was stated by Paul Robertson, who worked for the company for 10 years. After this rearranging is done, you’ll have to go the long way through the shop, from beginning to end.

If a product has started selling very quickly, it has been posted on Pinterest.

The company uses this popular platform to promote its products. For example, it becomes popular among students who want to quickly and inexpensively furnish a dorm room. Or among people who want to completely redo their interior. As a rule, they first go to Pinterest to look for design ideas, and they’re almost 100% likely to come across posts mentioning IKEA.

Employees prepare in advance for the most unexpected situations.

In addition to security, there is an internal voluntary fire brigade of IKEA employees. The employees undergo training with firefighters and doctors. They are taught to use fire extinguishers and fire hoses, and to provide emergency assistance before the arrival of emergency services. ©Vetany / Pikabu

Discounted items could have been props on a set.

Former employees say that IKEA provides home goods to production companies for filming for free. They’re used to decorate sets for TV shows, and then they’re sold at a discount. By the way, there’s even a TV series that was shot in the interior of this Swedish store.

IKEA doesn’t manufacture kitchen backsplashes.

The kitchen backsplashes, otherwise known as the tiles that go on the wall between the upper and bottom cabinets, are quite expensive at IKEA. The reason for this is because these are the only products in the entire store that are custom made by a third party factory. Everything else is mass-produced, so the price difference can be quite big.

Sales people don’t get a percentage of sales.

Former employees of the company say that everyone has a fixed salary. This measure is intended to increase the honesty of sales people, because in this case they don’t have the desire to sell as much as possible, as soon as possible. However, the company doesn’t forget to encourage active sellers with various bonuses, so there is still motivation to work harder.

Employees, sometimes, repair damaged goods themselves.

Showpieces get ruined pretty quickly because thousands of customers use them every day. So they end up in the discount department, where handy employees can, for example, put together a new cabinet from 2 damaged ones or change the legs of a chair. So, in that way, it turns into a truly unique piece of furniture.

If you see a sales assistant who is walking quickly through the department, just know — they’re probably going to have lunch.

Everyone needs food, even the hardy sales assistants from IKEA. But while they’re walking, they may be caught several times. Employees always try to help, but if the question is specific, like concerning a certain piece of furniture from a particular department, then don’t be offended by the phrase, “Please, ask that employee over there.”

Bonuses are only available to employees.

• All employees have flexible schedules, which are drawn up a month in advance, taking their requests into account.
• You can drink unlimited coffee during your shift.
• Everyone is provided with a 15% discount on the company’s products and services.
• “In the restaurant for the staff, there are more dishes and the prices are much lower. The restaurant for employees is generally a paradise, a dream, and a good place to take a break. I never ate so much tasty food and for so cheap. I still remember the seafood fricassee — it was mind-blowing.” ©1uck / Pikabu

Products are strangely named for a reason.

Some of the names of IKEA furniture are very well-known. Who hasn’t owned a BILLY at one time or another? Not a lot of people know that the reason for all these extraordinary names was the dyslexia of the founder of the company, Ingvar Kamprad. It was difficult for him to track items using the traditional system used by most sellers, where the products were identified by a set of numbers. To make it easier to work, Kamprad developed a method with names.

That’s all for now, unless you can add your own examples to the list. What mind-blowing IKEA secrets do you know?