Discuss the Advantages and Disadvantages of Having the Same Product Range Shown in All Ikea Catalogues Around the World

1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of having the same product range shown in all IKEA catalogues around the world.

The biggest advantage for a company that offers the same products for the entire world, I would say are the economies of scale. When you sell the same product throughout the world, the company can buy their all raw material together, saving the company thousands of money per year. In addition, I think that scale economies could also save money in terms like work, packaging and material costs of marketing.

One possible disadvantage, I would say is that a product can be sold very well in a country, but, for example, because of cultural differences, can be sold very badly in another. This is because, as I said, the cultural differences. Each country has its own habits, and maybe for a person who lives in Europe, a product can be very good, while for another person in South Africa, may not be as good because it is not accustomed to for example, that a product has a particular colour, example: a kitchen table yellow.

Another possible disadvantage for me to sell all the products at the same time throughout the world, is that loses the opportunity to sell the products that are not sold in the less developed markets. I would like to say that if IKEA selling the products separately, could sell in the less-developed countries products that are not sold in the developed countries, thus generating a strategy for products less sold.

Another aspect that IKEA must take into account when launching a catalogue, is to have clear how many money people earn in each country, since each country is different, and if you put a price on a piece of furniture of for example 150€, and at the same time you sell the same product in Algeria, where the inhabitants just earn on average 450€ (in the corresponding currency), you will fail in succeeding in the market of Algeria.

The way of transmitting a message is also different between the countries of the world. You have to be careful with the way of transmitting a message, since for a country can be something funny, another country can be offended.

Finally, I believe that IKEA also has to be taken into account if a product is used with the same goals in each country. For a country a particular product can be used to be more comfortable and to another can only be used as a decorative element, or directly, not be used for anything. The have to take into account because this variable may be one for incur in losses.

2. The catalogue is the most important element an IKEA’s global marketing planning. Discuss whether there could be some cultural differences in the effectiveness of the catalogue as a marketing tool.

The Swedish company does not plan to begin to launch global campaigns, because it believes that each country has their habits and their needs and they think it is important to respect cultural