Greener Vans, New Studios: Ikea Portugal Grows Against the Tide
Portuguese households kept buying Billy bookcases and Klippan sofas even as the global parent company trimmed prices to fight inflation. That is the short story behind Ikea Portugal’s latest results: sales inched forward, sustainability metrics leapt and the Swedish giant’s local arm once again grew faster than the group as a whole.
A resilient market in a cautious year
Even with consumer confidence wobbling across Europe, Ikea’s €611.4 M turnover in Portugal marked a 1.5 % uptick over the previous fiscal year. It may sound modest, yet the advance contrasts sharply with the -1.6 % slide in Ingka Group’s worldwide revenue, showing that Portuguese demand for affordable home-furnishing remains resilient. Analysts attribute the divergence to a combination of rising urban renovation projects, steady e-commerce adoption and Ikea’s deep brand recognition from Porto to the Algarve.
Reading the numbers behind the growth
Management credits the expansion to three pillars. First, online orders accounted for just above 21 % of total sales, underscoring how Portuguese shoppers increasingly click before they drive. Second, the chain opened three additional Planning Studios—Aveiro, Beja and Guimarães—raising the network to 16 and shortening delivery lead times outside Lisbon and Porto. Third, the payroll grew by 8 % to 3 224 staff representing 40 nationalities, a rare hiring spree in retail this year. The company highlights that 96 % hold permanent contracts while women occupy 52 % of leadership roles, figures that exceed many domestic benchmarks.
Omnichannel muscle: more doors and more screens
Ikea Portugal’s omnichannel playbook combines giant blue-box stores in Alfragide, Loures, Matosinhos, Braga and Loulé with a spiderweb of Planning Studios, pick-up points and pop-up vans. Executives say the hybrid model lets customers design a kitchen in Cascais, pay online in minutes and collect flat-packs at a Lidl car park in Seixal. Marketing campaigns such as “Hidden Tags”, which invited families to hunt for decades-old Ikea labels in their homes, helped reposition the brand around durability rather than fast fashion for furniture. The strategy paid off: Portugal secured a top spot in the Omnichannel Index 2025, shoulder to shoulder with domestic heavyweights Worten and Decathlon.
Green metrics steal the spotlight
Perhaps the most eye-catching figures lie outside the profit column. Ikea reports that its operational CO₂ emissions fell by more than half last year, a feat it links to 78 % of deliveries now handled by electric vehicles and 91 % of on-site waste diverted to recycling. The retailer also launched “Ikea Pre-Owned”, the country’s first branded marketplace for second-hand Billys and Poängs. In its first five months the platform recorded 1 000+ transactions, convincing management that circular revenue streams can move the needle while extending product life cycles.
How Portugal stacks up against the global picture
While local sales edged higher, Ingka Group’s 39 B € retail revenue shrank after the conglomerate deliberately lowered prices in 2025 to cushion households from a spike in living costs. That decision compressed turnover but lifted footfall: store visits worldwide rose 1.3 %, online traffic climbed 4.6 % and unit volumes gained 1.6 %. By posting growth in value terms, Portugal outperformed peer markets such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom, where inflation-sensitive consumers postponed discretionary purchases until the late-summer sale.
A broader home-decor boom on the horizon
Ikea’s steady climb fits into a bigger national story. Market researchers forecast Portuguese spending on home goods to reach €11.3 B by 2028, up from €8.9 B in 2023, an average annual expansion of 3.8 %. E-commerce is the locomotive: the furniture segment generated $493 M online sales in 2024, with projections of a 10-15 % surge in 2025, and Ikea.com already leads the ranking with roughly $59 M. Meanwhile, Paços de Ferreira’s wood-working cluster continues to supply bespoke pieces, ensuring that imported flat-packs coexist with Made-in-Portugal craftsmanship.
What comes next
For the fiscal year that started in September, Ikea will focus on the kitchen aisle under the slogan “Life begins at the table”. Management has sketched out no new big-box openings for 2026, but construction is underway on additional logistics capacity in Loures and upgrades to Alfragide’s support areas, moves designed to quicken last-mile deliveries. Internally, the retailer pledges to keep nudging its electric-fleet share toward 100 %, expand the Pre-Owned marketplace, and explore AI-driven room-planning tools in its studios.
Whether 2026 brings another uptick will depend on how Portuguese families respond to shifting mortgage rates and energy bills. Yet, if this year’s figures are any guide, the combination of accessible prices, click-and-collect convenience and sustainability promises continues to resonate from Setúbal to Viana do Castelo.