Ikea is to start leasing furniture in a radical departure from its traditional business model that the
Swedish group believes could lead to new ways of customers owning products from office chairs to
kitchen cabinets.
The first leasing trial by the world’s largest furniture retailer is set to begin in Switzerland as soon
as this month, and will involve several different types of furniture, according to the company.
“We will work together with partners so you can actually lease your furniture. When that leasing
period is over, you hand it back and you might lease something else,” Torbjorn Loof, chief
executive of Inter Ikea, which owns the Ikea brand, told the Financial Times.
“And instead of throwing those away, we refurbish them a little and we could sell them, prolonging
the lifecycle of the products,” he added.
The trial is the first in a series of tests that Ikea hopes could lead to “scalable subscription services”
for different types of furniture.
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