IKEA also had to adapt its location and do-it-yourself (DIY) assembly concept to China. IKEA has built its PRC stores near public transportation lines, offers local home delivery and long-distance delivery to major cities in China for a fee, maintains taxi lanes, and offers fee-based assembly services. Smedberg explained, “Usually IKEA stores open relatively far out in the suburbs, but we knew China had to be different since, for example, only 20 percent of visitors in Shanghai have cars.
But the stores also need ample parking so that people can visit with their own cars in the future. The Shanghai store has almost 1,000 parking places.” Smedberg also commented that IKEA’s DIY products are appreciated in the West, because customers know they save money by assembling products themselves and because many customers actually enjoy assembling the furniture. But in China, where labor is cheap, the DIY notion has not taken hold, so Chinese customers use IKEA’s assembly services more than customers in other countries
