Speaker 1: Kiyota.
Speaker 2: I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
Speaker 2: daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. Kiwis will
Speaker 2: finally get to experience the labyrinth that is an Ikea
Speaker 2: store from December fourth. The new Sylvia Park site in
Speaker 2: Auckland is one of the company's largest in the Southern Hemisphere,
Speaker 2: about the size of three rugby fields. There'll be thousands
Speaker 2: of products available online and in store, and yes, they
Speaker 2: will be serving up their famous Swedish meatballs in a
Speaker 2: four hundred and twenty six seat cafeteria. So why do
Speaker 2: we get so excited about international brands setting up on
Speaker 2: our shores and is there enough appetite for Ikea and
Speaker 2: their meatballs to succeed where others? Today? On the front Page,
Speaker 2: Quantum Jump CEO and marketing expert Ben Gooddow is with
Speaker 2: us to explain the hype around one of the world's
Speaker 2: leading retailers. First off, Ben, what is the significance of
Speaker 2: Ikea finally coming to New Zealand.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think there's a number of factors here.
Speaker 1: It is a major, major retail brand globally and one
Speaker 1: of Sweden's grade ex sports. I think to a certain extent,
Speaker 1: the sheer fact that so many Kiwis already have Ica
Speaker 1: products in their homes which they've may be brought back
Speaker 1: from overseas or people are given to them, or they've
Speaker 1: ordered in. And so it's a brand that almost feels
Speaker 1: like it's been here for a while anyway, but a
Speaker 1: bit actually planting itself. And it's very grounding for an
Speaker 1: international brand like that to arrive in New Zealand, not
Speaker 1: unlike a couple of years ago. I think we go, wow,
Speaker 1: you know, we're we're finally there as a nation. We've
Speaker 1: got an IQ, We've a Costco, We've got Nature and
Speaker 1: m Sephora, Victoria's Secret out of the airport. You know,
Speaker 1: brands which are you know, living in a country and
Speaker 1: far flung in the furthest away part of the world.
Speaker 1: In fact, I read today that we are the Ikea
Speaker 1: store in Auckland will be the servist away from Sweden
Speaker 1: store that they have. You know, it can be something
Speaker 1: when when these brands turn up and they've got to.
Speaker 2: Us in terms of Ikere, what makes it like I
Speaker 2: suppose the international juggernaut that it is.
Speaker 1: Firstly, I mean, the product is amazing, you know, it's there.
Speaker 1: They're innovative, they're they're they're sustainable or as sustainable as
Speaker 1: you can be within it with any category like that,
Speaker 1: and they're pushing to be more sustainable forever. They their
Speaker 1: focus on design is is fundamental to their success, you know.
Speaker 1: Be I mean I remember as a as as as
Speaker 1: you know, probably not long after I left store, going
Speaker 1: to be opening of a first Ikea in London and
Speaker 1: queuing up that day to get in and I didn't
Speaker 1: even really know what Ikea was, something to do on
Speaker 1: a on a Sunday, but but being bowled over by
Speaker 1: by the design, you know, the that simple Swedish aesthetic
Speaker 1: and you know it really it's not just furniture. Albeit
Speaker 1: I also have cursed and I once foolishly brought a
Speaker 1: foot on from my Ikea. And I'm sure if any
Speaker 1: anyone watching this imagines, you know, flat pack assembling a
Speaker 1: futon in a time where I did not own a
Speaker 1: power drill, so I had to hand hands through it.
Speaker 1: Every last through it was. I have the I have blisters,
Speaker 1: and I was not a happy person. But but the
Speaker 1: bouton was sensational.
Speaker 2: It's that's part of the fun of it, isn't it
Speaker 2: the flat pack. I mean I say fun in quotation
Speaker 2: marks because I personally don't think it's fun. But in
Speaker 2: terms of I mean you mentioned London in that.
Speaker 1: What when?
Speaker 2: What would that have been?
Speaker 1: That was nineteen eighty eight.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was it the same kind of huge sensation
Speaker 2: it was even then than it is now because in
Speaker 2: the eighties you didn't have social media or the Internet
Speaker 2: and things like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's funny. I was reflecting on that the other day,
Speaker 1: I mean especially asked for it's almost I don't know
Speaker 1: I remember it. I don't know why I was there.
Speaker 1: I don't know how I knew it was going on.
Speaker 1: Maybe there was an advert in the Evening Standard. It
Speaker 1: wasn't far from my flat, but it felt big. I
Speaker 1: remember going to work the net's day and wherever, you know,
Speaker 1: people were talking about it, and so I guess it was.
Speaker 1: It must have been on the news. It must have
Speaker 1: been on the radio. Maybe there was a piece of
Speaker 1: it in the Standard in the morning where people are
Speaker 1: getting on the tube with their newspaper. But you're right,
Speaker 1: I mean the I think it's fun. Only now, having
Speaker 1: lived now with social media for ten fifteen years, we
Speaker 1: almost forgotten. How did these things get shared and amplified
Speaker 1: and so on. Before all that happened, but I guess
Speaker 1: we just found other ways. I mean apartment of meals.
Speaker 1: People talk to each other about it.
Speaker 2: Do you think Ikea will have to adapt to the
Speaker 2: Kiwi market or is Ikea just Ikea?
Speaker 1: Well? I think initially, I mean they are just Ikea
Speaker 1: their product range. They're not going to develop products just
Speaker 1: for this market. And are you know, not quite sure
Speaker 1: what products we were uniquely we would uniquely need. I mean,
Speaker 1: we're a lot different for the rest of the world. However,
Speaker 1: they have done a lot of groundwork, which they've talked
Speaker 1: about some of their media relations around going into Keiwi
Speaker 1: homes and understanding what how key we use products, what
Speaker 1: they need. I think probably understanding things like how key
Speaker 1: we use their garages, you know, as well as their
Speaker 1: outdoors and so on. So I think probably it will
Speaker 1: be more they'll show up with the ranging because they
Speaker 1: they'll have a vast array of ranges, but not everything
Speaker 1: will be as appropriate in autund as it might be
Speaker 1: in Tokyo or New York or whatever. So I think, yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll get a profile which will be developed deemed appropriate
Speaker 1: based on those insights.
Speaker 2: What do you make of the main freight partnership? Is
Speaker 2: that something quite unique for those who don't know they're
Speaker 2: going to be doing this main freight to home service
Speaker 2: and the offer will take heavier items into people's homes
Speaker 2: if that was their preferred option. That's quite revolutionary because
Speaker 2: I always fret when I buy something or a piece
Speaker 2: of furniture thinking am I going to fit it into
Speaker 2: my car? Or am I going to be able to
Speaker 2: carry this up my drive? So that's quite a unique
Speaker 2: having a main freight you know, a couple of them
Speaker 2: actually lug it into your house is quite special.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, they are operating distribution in some other markets,
Speaker 1: especially where they don't have those those stores. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's certainly a very smart, strong play for this market.
Speaker 1: You know, the suddenly you know they've only got one store,
Speaker 1: but it's almost like have they got twenty nine stores?
Speaker 1: And we're also living in an evolved age of e commerce.
Speaker 1: People's happiness buying online ever since Covid was a bit
Speaker 1: of a game changer for online buying in New Zealand,
Speaker 1: which is has always been a little bit behind the
Speaker 1: rest of the Western world in terms of uptake on
Speaker 1: e commerce. But it kind of makes sense for Ikea,
Speaker 1: especially once people have some familiarity with products. You know,
Speaker 1: if you're if you're living down country and your your
Speaker 1: friend is that it shows you shows you their foot
Speaker 1: on which they're really delighted with, and you go, well,
Speaker 1: I'll have one of those, you know. You you can
Speaker 1: just order one and you can pick it up from
Speaker 1: your main freight delivery, so it's aluld have it delivered
Speaker 1: into the house. So I think it's going to allow
Speaker 1: their distribution to be really powerful, and for other brands
Speaker 1: that are in that that, especially about heavier furniture offering,
Speaker 1: it's going to put some pressure on it.
Speaker 3: Your opening is also going to allow many New Zealanders
Speaker 3: for once again experience the loved Swedish meatballs that they
Speaker 3: remember from visiting Ikea stores overseas. I think all of
Speaker 3: us who have lived overseas, and I did so for
Speaker 3: some time, are very familiar where you put an itinerary
Speaker 3: together for your key, we friends and family coming to
Speaker 3: visit you, and they say that's very lovely, but can
Speaker 3: we go to ikeamost and whether it's in Chicago or
Speaker 3: London where I was for some time, they say that
Speaker 3: looks great, But let's get to the Ikea quickly, please.
Speaker 2: The only reason I can think of for Ikea that
Speaker 2: that mat would perhaps not make it work so well
Speaker 2: here is that because there's been an absence in the
Speaker 2: market of ike for so long. The likes of Kmart
Speaker 2: and the warehouse have their own flat pack furniture, obviously
Speaker 2: not to the scale of as Ikea, but people have
Speaker 2: gotten you know, cupboards and bookshelves and desks and things
Speaker 2: like that already. Do you think that ike as products
Speaker 2: will hit as hard as it would have without those competitives,
Speaker 2: or do you think Kmart and the warehouse and the
Speaker 2: like should just give up now?
Speaker 1: Oh? No, I mean I think it's always I mean,
Speaker 1: first of all, I mean, the people like to have choice,
Speaker 1: and you're going to have loyal shoppers that km loyal
Speaker 1: shoppers at the warehouse. Ike is going to come in
Speaker 1: and it won't be for everyone, and I think in
Speaker 1: a way probably, I mean, it'll be interesting in both
Speaker 1: retailers have been doing research on what might happen once
Speaker 1: I care in market and how does it maybe reshape
Speaker 1: their ranging. You know, they may go down a price
Speaker 1: pointing strategy, or you know, if there's resistance flat pack
Speaker 1: do do they have less? You know, maybe not quite
Speaker 1: so flat pack not more ready to go. And also,
Speaker 1: I mean fundamentally is for business they're in. I mean
Speaker 1: I think provided they can they can see an appropriate
Speaker 1: ROI they'll you know that they'll stick at it, but
Speaker 1: they probably need to. It may make them think about
Speaker 1: the ranging and what you know, because they may find
Speaker 1: they get really disrupted in some areas but maybe less
Speaker 1: so in others.
Speaker 2: Can you show some examples of perhaps international brands that
Speaker 2: we've gotten quite excited about and that have actually thrived
Speaker 2: in New Zealand. Of course I'm thinking initially straight off
Speaker 2: the back. Costco, for example, that was huge when I came.
Speaker 2: I went to Costco on the second weekend that it
Speaker 2: was open, and I regret it. It was terrifying.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, actually I went the opening day. You can
Speaker 1: tell I'm a bit of an opening day junkie, and
Speaker 1: I went round and it was, Yes, it was quite
Speaker 1: quite the thing. I mean, the cues for crowds, that's
Speaker 1: the trap for traffic was I deliberately part of the
Speaker 1: little way away and I walked in. I decided I
Speaker 1: didn't want to get stuck in the car park. I
Speaker 1: think part of the big thing was with the sheer bars,
Speaker 1: the smiles on people's faces, the cues for the for
Speaker 1: the one dollar hot dogs, and and I think just
Speaker 1: the you know, Costo, like I hear, it's a scale thing.
Speaker 1: You know, it's big and you know very much. You know,
Speaker 1: a retail a retail cathedral, and so yeah, that babe,
Speaker 1: I mean certainly in Costco is just hasn't got quieter.
Speaker 1: You know, like the the ques, especially at weekends are
Speaker 1: are quite incredible, although they do pretty well at pumping
Speaker 1: people through, but yeah, anytime you want to go over,
Speaker 1: you're going to see it's going to be pretty busy.
Speaker 1: And the cue for their their hot roast chickens and
Speaker 1: things is never seems to diminish. They just get wiped out.
Speaker 1: So I mean, yeah, they've done well. I mean some
Speaker 1: others have found a little bit harder. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: Sephora has found a little bit harder. Obviously. You know,
Speaker 1: the top Shop brand came into New Zealand, although it
Speaker 1: wasn't it wasn't directly owned by top Shop itself, so
Speaker 1: it was through a local partnership, so it didn't have
Speaker 1: the same financial dynamics that it would be a fit
Speaker 1: have been the actual brand owner coming in in terms
Speaker 1: of margin. So I think they found a bit tougher
Speaker 1: because they opened up at a magnificent site on Queen
Speaker 1: Street and it was a really lovely store, and foot
Speaker 1: traffic to it looked pretty good. But I think just
Speaker 1: getting those most margin aspects of your overhease too high,
Speaker 1: it's just very hard in retail. And you know, we've
Speaker 1: had other brands here, I mean, you know, Laura Ashley
Speaker 1: body Shop and so on. It's still kind of come
Speaker 1: and gone, but they they've also been having challenges. You know,
Speaker 1: some retail brands go through challenges globally anyway, just as
Speaker 1: trends change. I mean, the retail chain it's not quite
Speaker 1: on the same level as I here. But the ones
Speaker 1: who are really killing it over here of time in
Speaker 1: his chemist Warehouse, and you know, they they've really tapped
Speaker 1: into something that you know, we didn't really have that
Speaker 1: large scale, low cost chemist pharmacy offering and all those
Speaker 1: brands before. And you know they, I mean I just
Speaker 1: saw yesterdays a new one going up to Stabba Road
Speaker 1: and go wow. They I mean, they're they're they're just
Speaker 1: going gamebusters.
Speaker 2: Yeah, They're popping up everywhere, aren't they. I mean, if
Speaker 2: you could waive a magic wand and have an overseas
Speaker 2: retailer come here tomorrow, or really look at New Zealand
Speaker 2: as a really good option, what would it be. I
Speaker 2: know what my couple are, so I've been advocating for
Speaker 2: Audi to come here for a long time. They've just
Speaker 2: grown roots in Australia. And then another one that I
Speaker 2: was thinking of the other day, would would we would
Speaker 2: we like a Walmart or something here?
Speaker 1: Well, in a way, the warehouses a Walmart, so I think,
Speaker 1: I mean, who knows, maybe of Walmart could buy the
Speaker 1: warehouse and then that would that that would be interesting
Speaker 1: the an Audi, Yeah, I mean the the I mean obviously, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's maybe strange to a whole other podcast conversation would be,
Speaker 1: you know, the whole supermarket thing and the you know
Speaker 1: and but but you know, oldie, you know to come in.
Speaker 1: It's it's just with such a you know. One of
Speaker 1: your other questions before is you know, we are a
Speaker 1: very small market for which is why I here. Of
Speaker 1: taking their time to come here. They have been richer
Speaker 1: solutions before that, all richer market options to go into.
Speaker 1: So it's when people do come here, it's because they've
Speaker 1: worked out or they think they've worked out how to
Speaker 1: make money. I mean brands. For me selfishly, it's I'm
Speaker 1: quite passionate about some overseas apparel brands. So there's one
Speaker 1: particular favorite of mine is an Italian brand ORed Boggy,
Speaker 1: and it's it's a it's a web brands, so you know,
Speaker 1: basically you can buy it online. They they they they
Speaker 1: ship out of Australia, but if you actually want to
Speaker 1: go to a store, you usually have to be in Italy.
Speaker 1: But the chances of from companies in a rather slim.
Speaker 1: But then you know, maybe moving back and be said
Speaker 1: for some of some other things in the old days,
Speaker 1: I would have said I would have loved to have
Speaker 1: had a Virgin Megastore here because that was a place
Speaker 1: I spent an awful lot of time in the in
Speaker 1: the eighties and nineties. But as you know, music and entertainment.
Speaker 2: Shopping is when we used to have records and CDs.
Speaker 1: Records and CDs and Virgin Megastore was like the ultimate place.
Speaker 1: Mad and Tower Records of the ultimate places, but they
Speaker 1: don't really exist in the same way now, so it's
Speaker 1: not quite the same call.
Speaker 2: What would convince someone like another one over in Adelaide's
Speaker 2: just got a couple of t K Max's and a
Speaker 2: unique cloth. And then there's another another Japanese brand that
Speaker 2: we were talking about before. I think it's Moojie. What
Speaker 2: would make you know one of those brands actually look
Speaker 2: at New Zealand, what do we have to do well?
Speaker 1: It may partly be seeing some of these other international
Speaker 1: operators succeeding. So I mean Costo, I don't know whether
Speaker 1: Ike have been IQ have been coming for years, and
Speaker 1: I don't know whether Costo actually getting in and breaking
Speaker 1: ground and buildings helped ive Ike similar confidence to come
Speaker 1: into market. It's probably, I mean for them, it's probably
Speaker 1: seeing what is the economic situation, what what is working
Speaker 1: or thriving in New Zealand and and identifying market gaps.
Speaker 1: You know what isn't being said? I think that's what
Speaker 1: you know. Come back to Chemist Warehouse. Why they've done
Speaker 1: well is there was nothing like it in market, and
Speaker 1: you know, the the established retailers of day to day
Speaker 1: pharmacy goods were we're doing in a in a much
Speaker 1: more traditional way. So they've come in discounted, but also
Speaker 1: the arranging is very very different, you know. I mean
Speaker 1: another brand that would be really interesting over here is Primark,
Speaker 1: which is you know again, fast fashion, super cheap. You know,
Speaker 1: it's you can you can get kitched out for so
Speaker 1: little and they and they their stores are massive over
Speaker 1: in particular the UK and multi floor pretty much pick
Speaker 1: up whatever you want. I would have thought the prime
Speaker 1: Ark would kill over here. Actually it would if they
Speaker 1: come back to your point, why would they come here?
Speaker 1: They would just had to establish but there was a
Speaker 1: market gap that wasn't being served well by the existing
Speaker 1: insisting players.
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us, Ben.
Speaker 1: You're welcome. It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 2: That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
Speaker 2: can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
Speaker 2: at nsidherld dot co dot enz. The Front Page is
Speaker 2: produced by Jane Ye and Richard Martin, who was also
Speaker 2: our editor. I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to the Front Page
Speaker 2: on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune
Speaker 2: in on Monday for another look behind the headlines.