45 IKEA Fails That Made People Question Their Life Choices

In 2025, IKEA made a profit of 1.5 billion euros (or 1.76 billion dollars). Scrolling through this list, you might ask yourself, “Why?”

At the center of the business’s success is value. It’s similar to when you go to McDonald’s: you know what you’re going to get and it’s going to be affordable.

In fact, price is so important to IKEA’s strategy that the company first decides on the price of a piece of furniture and then reverse engineers the construction, the company claims.

According to Antonella Pucarelli, the chief commercial officer of IKEA retail U.S., IKEA has a “democratic design approach,” which means that it “deliver[s] form, function, and quality products at a low price.”

“Even though our products are affordable, we don’t compromise on quality,” she says.

Some of IKEA’s furniture is made from wood, some is made from particleboard (recycled wood chips fused together), keeping production more affordable.

IKEA furniture is shipped and sold in flat-packs, which makes transportation cheaper, and customers put it together themselves (or pay someone to do it for them), keeping labor costs down.

And the trademark simple style of the furniture Ikea sells isn't just because of a Scandinavian aesthetic. It’s easier and cheaper to make affordable versions of such furniture look good.

Plus, most of Ikea’s furniture is available in black, white, or unfinished wood. By producing more items in fewer finishes, IKEA benefits from economies of scale.

IKEA’s stores are also designed to appeal to its customers’ subconscious mind. The layout of its warehouse showrooms feels familiar to shoppers, with furniture, pillows, and other home goods arranged in fully staged, realistic rooms.

By presenting items in their natural context, everything appears purposeful and easy to imagine in everyday life. This helps the brain quickly recognize the value of each item, making it more likely that shoppers will want to buy it.

IKEA sets up the store along a directed walking path that takes customers in one direction through nearly its entire inventory (provided you don’t take short-cuts, which are also available in some places).

“We are very conscious of the value of people’s time,” Pucarelli adds. There are arrows pointing the way on the floor, and signs with a corresponding store map to reinforce the path.

And don’t forget the cheap, yummy food, both in the cafe and at checkout. For many, it’s as iconic as the furniture. Globally, IKEA sells more than 1 billion Swedish meatballs each year, Pucarelli says.

“Ingvar was known for saying, ‘You can’t do business with someone on an empty stomach!’” Pucarelli adds.

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