NETHERLANDS - Ingka Group, the largest retailer in the IKEA franchise system - owns and operates 367 IKEA stores in 30 countries - is accelerating its transformation.

The Group is stepping up investments in new and existing IKEA stores and fulfillment centers, developing city center formats and focusing on its e-commerce platform, to better meet the needs of its customers and be more convenient and affordable to more people.

Building on many years of solid growth and as part of a transformation, Ingka Group is assessing all parts of the organization and is simplifying to enable a greater focus on adding value to its customers. As a result, in the coming 2 years 11,500 new jobs will be created, through opening around 30 new IKEA touchpoints, investments in its fulfillment network and in digital capabilities. At the same time 7,500 jobs may be redundant, out of its 160,000 co-worker population, mainly focusing on global functions and offices in 30 markets.

Jesper Brodin, Chief Executive Officer, Ingka Group says: “We continue to grow and perform strongly. At the same time, we recognize that the retail landscape and customer behaviors are transforming rapidly. We are investing and developing our business to meet their needs in better and new ways, putting greater emphasis on making our existing stores even better and taking the opportunity to renew and reinvent our business.”

The transformation includes exploring a new city center approach in 30 megacities to complement the company’s larger stores, and strengthening its digital and fulfillment offering so customers have a wide range of choices that suit their needs and lifestyles.

During the past year, 160,000 co-workers welcomed 838 million visits to IKEA stores and more than 2.35 billion visits to IKEA.com. In the fiscal year 2018, Ingka Group reported global sales growth of 4.7%.