Ikea’s UK flat pack sales are...well..flat

This is a great article for business students - literally packed full with key business terms and concepts.

Globally, Ikea’s sales grew by almost 8% in the year to Aug 2010, presumably fuelled by expansion into emerging markets. However, in the UK the sales growth has stalled, with revenues only growing by 1%.

On the face of it, that doesn’t sound too good. But the article has a catch. Ikea’s market share actually grew in the same period to 6%; which must mean that the value of the overall market fell. So Ikea UK out-performed the competition. A key question for students is…why? There are lots of answers and clues in the article for them to spot and discuss.