Canberra and Newcastle are to be targeted by global homeware giant Ikea in a future online business.
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Ikea Australia country manager David Hood said yesterday that advancements in e-commerce will enable the flat-pack retailer to service more of the Australian market.
He said Ikea Australia did not yet have the capability to allow people to order goods online, but is planning to rectify that.
Ikea will issue its national online strategy next year amid plans for a third big Sydney store.
The homeware store will open its long-awaited second store in Sydney's south on November 3, 2 years after securing planning approval on the former tip site.
Mr Hood said e-commerce would complement Ikea's bricks and mortar business.
The company expects online sales to make up around 5per cent of total sales, but it was difficult to accurately predict volumes until the online business was up and running. Ikea Australia is preparing an online sales presentation for a meeting with the company board next year.
Despite the planned online push, Ikea has not abandoned its plans to build new stores, with roll-outs set to continue in eastern Australia under Mr Hood's stewardship.
The new store in Tempe totals 39,000sqm, making it the largest Ikea store in the southern hemisphere, an honour Melbourne's Springvale store held for just over a month.
Mr Hood said he expects three million Sydneysiders to come through the doors at Tempe in the first year, spending, on average, around two to 2 hours in the store.
The British arm of Ikea already offers a limited range of goods online for domestic customers.
Ikea is close to securing a sizeable piece of industrial land in Sydney's north-west and one in Brisbane, as the company plans eight to 11 sites on the east coast. However, smaller cities, such as Newcastle and Canberra, would be targeted through the online business.