Where is the Puck?

I went to the Ikea store the other day. Time and again I am amazed with the way they do their business. No wonder they are one of the world’s most successful companies. No wonder their owner, Mr. Ingvar Kamprad, is ranked #4 on Forbes 400 list of billioners.

IKEA taught me something: Marketing is not just about 4Ps. One can have excellent and innovative Product, competitive Price, great Promotion and convenient Place, yet there is something more. This “something more” is actually the INTANGIBLE ingredient. You can’t copy it. You can’t manipulate it as easily as 4Ps. Yet, it is the heart and the soul of the business. It is called: EXPERIENCE.

IKEA experience is very, very unique. Here is a small sample of innovative things they do to create unique experience:
* Self-service: you are picking and carrying your own items - like in the grocery store!
* Furniture self-assembly
* Great kids playground
* Great restaurant in the middle of the store
* Pen and paper available everywhere to note your ideas while shopping
* The walking path from the entrance of the store to the exit
* The culture of humour (ads, funny names of products, etc.)

And so on and on…What an experience! Wow! I am starting to enjoy shopping… Oh, by the way, this same marketing instrument (”experience”) has its Internet equivalent. It is called website (or: user) experience and by many it is considered as the ultimate key to online success.