Nightmare for Ikea customers as chain hit with supply issues with 10% of stock unavailable
Swedish home furnishings company Ikea has been hit with issues in their supply chains, leading to around 10% of their product becoming unavailable.
Difficulties in the transport and sourcing of raw materials have meant there is low or no availability of certain products.
Ikea has also said a rise in demand for their products over the lockdown periods has also contributed to the shortages.
A spokesperson for Ikea said: “Like many retailers, we are experiencing ongoing challenges with our supply chains due to Covid-19 and labour shortages, with transport, raw materials and sourcing all impacted.
“In addition, we are seeing higher customer demand as more people are spending more time at home.”
They added: “As a result, we are experiencing low availability in some of our ranges, with approximately 10 per cent unavailable.
“We hope this will reduce as the situation improves in the coming weeks and months.
“Going forward, we’re constantly looking for more opportunities to secure product availability for our customers and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
The shortages have also impacted Ikea's business in the UK, with the retailer saying it has struggled to meet the high demand for certain products such as mattresses.
Following Brexit, Ikea decided to switch distribution for its Dublin store from the UK to Belgium.
As a result, the company said it experienced initial disruption to trade flows due to new border operation models and product requirement rules but that these had not had a “significant impact” on the business.
Despite Ikea saying that the pandemic increased the demand for their products, the profits of Ikea's Irish operation declined last year due to the impact of the closure of their store because of restrictions.
Like most retailers, Ikea was forced to close its stores in March 2020 during the first lockdown of the pandemic.
It reopened in June when restrictions were eased but were again forced to close in October and November and from January until May.
However, despite the store being closed, online sales rose by four per cent.
