IKEA’s Best-Selling Product Is Not a Piece of Furniture
With over 1 billion units sold, this tiny item outsells all others
✒ The answer: meatball.
The hypothesis: hungry customers were distracted customers. If sufficiently satiated, they’d be likely to stay longer, talk about their purchases, and make a decision without leaving the store — thus buying more.
The strategy: Losing money on purpose by offering the cheapest meal within a certain radius of the store. Being a loss-leader loses on food, but the profit from selling a piece of furniture more than offsets such loss. It also reinforces brand awareness for customers that don’t convert the first time, increasing the likelihood of a purchase in the future.
The execution: the tactics of “business-fusion” works, but “strategic loss” is not for companies with shallow pockets.
Really some food for thought.