IKEA has opened its first store in India. The store, located in Hyderabad, cost roughly $$100$ million to build and is an estimated $400,000$ square feet. The company plans to have up to $25$ stores in India by $2025.$

India has a large and complex retail base. The country$$s $1\mathrm{.}3$ billion people account for about $$30$ billion per year for furniture and household items. However, unlike the U$.$S$.,95\%$ of the goods are sold through small shops that offer specialty products or single$-$category stores. IKEA$$s broad product mix and store operations had to be significantly revised for India. While the store layout is similar to other IKEAs, the displays are different, featuring hundreds of products priced at $100$ rupees or less $($$$1\mathrm{.}45$ U$.$S$.).$

To research how India$$s people live and shop, employees visited about $1,000$ homes in different areas of India to understand consumers$$ needs. Some differences: most Indians do not use knives to eat, women are shorter than Europeans, and children often sleep in the same room as their parents until they are school$-$age. In addition, India$$s government requires foreign$-$owned, single$-$brand retailers to use local suppliers for $30\%$ of the value of the goods sold in India.

IKEA, the Sweden$-$based multinational, now owns and operates $415$ stores in $49$ countries around the globe. With revenue in excess of $$42$ billion $($U$.$S$.),$ and an estimated $12,000$ products, the company uses more than $1\%$ of the world$$s commercial$-$product wood.

It$$s not always easy to change, but entering a new market requires research and revision.