As a parent and a home-owner i’m naturally a regular shopper at Ikea. We have a massive one in Cardiff and as a family we often go there just for a browse and lunch (the free child care helps).

I’ve often remarked to Helen that Ikea does the customer experience brilliantly but I didn’t realise just how brilliant it is until I watched this video. The cheap ice-cream and hot-dogs at the checkouts now make total sense – I always did wonder why there was a massive cafe upstairs and then another smaller food outlet downstairs.

What lessons could your business learn from Ikea’s customer experience?

UPDATE JULY 2016 : Since this article was originally published the video below has been taken off-line by the originator so it’s now unavailable. This is a shame as it clearly described how the customer experience varied as they moved around the store ultimately dropping to a low point as the customer has to pick out the stock they want from the warehouse. The cheap ice-cream at the end being the reward for putting up with the bad experience during pick and checkout.

You can see from the captured screen-shot above how the customer experience dips up and down as customers progress around the store ending with a high point after check-out.

https://youtu.be/l39UstzNsqc