Article

Opinions vary on IKEA store 'maze' layout

Some think the layout is meant to be intentionally confusing.

March 3, 2011 by Kim Williams — Reporter, NetWorld Alliance

The size and layout of an IKEA store can seem a bit overwhelming. Different colored arrows painted on the floor direct to departments in a windowless environment. Shoppers find themselves being herded along a one-way path instead of navigating through the usual grid-like boulevard or avenue layout.

Some professors, psychologists and consumers believe this maze-like setup is intentional.

"By delaying the ability of the shopper to fulfill their mission, at the same time as disorienting them and dissociating them from everyday life, when eventually they are ‘allowed' to start buying, the shopper feels licensed to treat themselves. The result is impulse buying," said Alan Penn, professor of Architectural and Urban Computing at The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies.

The one-way route steers shoppers away from the single entrance deeper into the store, corralling them through showrooms before granting access to the warehouse area. Some shoppers think the design is frustrating.

"Without a doubt the IKEA floor plan is intended to keep customers in the store longer. I think they took a page from the casino gaming industry floor plan manual. They know that the longer a person stays in the establishment, the more they are likely to spend," said IKEA shopper Susan Ferrier.

Carol Gilbert's one and only visit to the furniture retailer placed her in the midst of a power outage, in which backup generators failed to kick on, resulting in a chaotic, frightening scramble to find exits.

"It was the middle of nowhere in absolute blackness. A few staff members led us to some exit on a level we weren't familiar with and turned all of us out. We got out without buying anything and have never returned," Gilbert said.

An IKEA employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the official name for the one-way path is the "Long and Natural Path." The employee admitted that it isn't terribly conducive to quickly running in to look at one particular item.

"Many customers ignore the guidance signs, arrows and maps anyway, so sometimes people get even more lost," the employee said.

PHOTOS: Take a look inside various IKEA locations around the world

David Sabine, who holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, doesn't think the layout is meant to be intentionally confusing. He believes shoppers are forced to experience the merchandised showrooms in the same way that McDonald's drive-thru customers have to listen to a spiel offering a particular product before completing their orders.

"It is meant to make you walk past everything in the store. Just like Wal-Mart puts merchandise in the middle of the aisle you have to walk down, IKEA just takes it to a new level by dictating where you go in the store," said Sabine. "If a strategy can point to more sales, it is adopted, but being turned off by the strategy is much tougher to detect. I suspect theses strategies don't actually help the bottom line as much as they think."
 
Defending the way-finding concept

Mona Astra Liss, IKEA corporate public relations director, provided a blanket statement in defense of the design, "The size of the store is designed to help support easy customer traffic flow, as well as easy self-serve and check-out."

Shopper Christina Kosinski enjoys the store's set-up and thinks shopping would take longer if the layout were any different.

"I personally love the way IKEA is set up. I like it because it has a flow to it and you know where you are going if you follow the arrows they provide on the floor," said Kosinski. "When I go, I am usually after a certain item but love going through all the displays, especially the small living section."

Elizabeth Kinkel, an IKEA shopper and junior designer at WNUK Spurlock Architecture, believes the store falls into the category of "destination shopping" and encourages the customer to "stay a while."

"It gives consumers the ability to think like designers by discovering possibilities in the showroom space, then building their own spaces from larger ideas. I believe the layout is very well thought out," said Kinkel.

While opinions may differ on the efficiency of IKEA's self-service, way-finding concept, there are no plans to modify the store design in the immediate future.

"Ultimately, just like any other store, IKEA is a business and if they don't sell, they don't make profit, and in the end don't exist," said Kinkel.

(Photo by The Consumerist.)