IN-STORE report: Ikea’s simple storytelling

Like all furniture retailers, IKEA faces headwinds of inflation, tariffs, and consumer weariness (oh my!). To remind customers that it still champions bold, innovative design as well as low, low prices, there are only two major stories happening in its stores right now (October 2025).

With its in-store signage, IKEA keeps it simple and direct. It only wants in-store shoppers to focus on two main ideas:

1— There’s tons of newness here. IKEA reminds us that it’s not one to rest on its MALM and POANG laurels.

2— It also wants us to know there’s never been a better time to buy some of its products.

This communicates to us that IKEA is steadily working to drive prices down — not just to keep them low, but to go even lower. It’s a Walmart “Rollback” messaging strategy, IKEA-ized.

An approach like this seems simple (because it is), but the real challenge here is the discipline it takes just to stick to those two stories.

Imagine how other retailers might do it: by including an endless list of product benefits, descriptions of materials, customer stories, or even getting into the weeds about how the design team stays on top of today’s consumers’ needs.

What it does instead demonstrates how simple messages (with some bold colors assigned to them) can have major impact. It serves as a good reminder to us all for any strategic or creative work we might be doing for in-store or — well, anywhere.