As of January 2008, it is the world's largest furniture retailer.

As of December 2014, IKEA owns and operates 351 stores in 46 countries.[8] In fiscal year 2010, US$23.1 billion worth of goods were sold

The company uses approximately 1% of Earth's wood supply, making it one of the largest users of wood in the retail sector.[11]

There’s a reason the items you see in an IKEA catalog look so ridiculously appealing — it’s because the Swedish furniture chain uses 3D rendering technology to create digital models of the products.

In July 2014 IKEA announced it would open its first store in India in the city of Hyderabad, where the local government has committed to fast track all the required paperwork and permits, as it is seeking to attract foreign investment. The new IKEA is expected to open in 2015

The world's five largest IKEA stores are:

1. Gwangmyeong, Seoul Capital Area, South Korea: 59,000 m2 (640,000 sq ft)

2. Stockholm Kungens Kurva, Sweden: 55,200 m2 (594,000 sq ft)

3. Shanghai Baoshan, China: 55,032 m2 (592,360 sq ft)4. Shanghai Pudong Beicai, China: 49,400 m2 (532,000 sq ft)Wuxi, China: 49,117 m2 (528,690 sq ft)

Unique chars:Skylights are also now common in the self-serve warehouses; natural lighting reduces energy costs, improves worker morale and gives a better impression of the products.So is glass used

Most IKEA stores offer an "as-is" area at the end of the warehouse, just before the cash registers. Returned, damaged and

formerly showcased products are displayed here and sold with a significant discount, but also with a no-returns policy.Another feature of IKEA stores is their long opening hours. Many stores are in operation 24 hours a day with restocking and maintenance being carried out throughout the night. Public opening hours tend to be much longer than most other retailers,

In many locations, the IKEA restaurants open daily before the rest of the store and serve an inexpensive breakfast. Every store has a play area,

much of IKEA's furniture is designed to be self-assembled. The company claims that this helps reduce costs and use of packaging by not shipping air; the volume of a bookcase, for example, is considerably less if it is shipped unassembled rather than assembled

he extensive use of Medium-Density Fiberboard ("MDF"), also called "particle board."

At the end of September 2013, the company announced that solar panel packages for houses will be sold at 17 UK stores by the end of July 2014. The decision followed a successful pilot project at the Lakeside IKEA store, whereby one photovoltaic (PV) system was sold almost every day. The panels are manufactured by the Chinese company Hanergy.

IKEA uses a sales technique called "bulla bulla" in which a bunch of items are purposefully jumbled in bins, to create the impression of volume, and therefore, inexpensiveness.

Catalogue: main marketing tool of the retail giant, consuming 70% of the company's annual marketing budget.

2013 catalogue is an app: projects an item into a real-time photograph image of the user's room. The augmented reality app

also provides an indication of the scale of IKEA objects in relation to the user's living environment.

IKEA has launched a loyalty card called "IKEA family". The card is free of charge and can be used to obtain discounts on a special range of products found in each IKEA store. it allows for free tea or coffee (from Monday to Friday at most locations) at Ikea restaurant.

303-its own 47-franchisee stores

growth-russia,china,north america

Top five sales countriesGermany 16%, USA 11%, France 10%, UK 7%, and Italy 7%.

Top five purchasing countriesChina 20%, Poland 18%, Italy 8%, Germany 6% and Sweden 5%.

In September 2004, when IKEA offered a limited number of free $150 vouchers at the opening of a new store in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, three people were crushed to death in a stampede that followed the store's opening