Swedish home furnishing retail giant IKEA recently announced the acquisition of American supply chain software service provider Made4net, hoping to further strengthen its online e-commerce business.
▲ Source: IKEA
Ingka Group, the parent company of IKEA, said in a statement that it would acquire 100% of New Jersey-headquartered software maker Made4net for an undisclosed amount. Ingka digital director Wim Blaauw pointed out that as IKEA continues to receive rapid growth in orders from the Internet, it needs to invest in the most advanced technology to provide consumers with a better shopping experience.
▲ Source: IKEA
The proportion of IKEA’s online sales has been increasing in recent years. Last year, 25% of Ingka’s sales came from online, while in 2020, this proportion is only 7%. Ingka said the acquisition of Made4net will help Ingka’s employees, who currently rely on warehouse records to find inventory, and quickly and accurately find and ship products.
It is learned that this is Ingka’s third acquisition of an Internet-related company in six years. In 2017, Ingka acquired talent recruitment platform TaskRabbit, and in 2020 it acquired 3D vision developer Geomagical Labs.
