Swedish furniture major IKEA to increase sourcing of toys from India

13 May 2021: IKEA India is also aiming to have around 12 % of sales from kids’ range of products in the coming years. Besides cotton, IKEA is also looking to source wooden toys for its stores.

IKEA sources only cotton-based soft toys from India, is also exploring to expand in some other categories such as wooden toys, said IKEA India Country Commercial Manager Kavitha Rao.

IKEA, which had participated in recent India Toy Fair, said it is exploring opportunities to partner with several players in the toy segment.

When being asked as to whether IKEA is going to increase sourcing of toys from India, Ms. Rao told PTI, “Of course, yes. That is one of the main reasons why we are part of the toys fair.” “Because we could be a large buyer and of course, it is contingent on meeting standards and design thoughts… but we feel that there is a great opportunity for us to come together with some potential suppliers as part of the player as well,” she added.

“IKEA has a fairly large range of over 1,000 products as part of its children’s range, which contributes around 6-8% currently, and we aim to reach 10-12 % in the near future,” Ms. Rao said.

Recently, the government has created eight toy clusters with some significant investments in that space.

IKEA is working on new categories like furniture, mattress and sofas, besides building the textiles category which India is traditionally strong.