IKEA boosts prices, blames supply chain troubles

IKEA, the world’s biggest furniture retailer, has boosted its prices due to supply chain troubles, Reuters reported. 

IKEA said Thursday that prices will go up to 9 percent on average across its markets to reflect its own rising costs, which it indicated are related to higher commodity prices and the pandemic-fueled supply chain crisis that has bedeviled scores of businesses.

“Unfortunately now, for the first time since higher costs have begun to affect the global economy, we have to pass parts of those increased costs onto our customers,” IKEA’s Retail Operations Manager Tolga Öncü said. 

 The furniture retailer recently said it will begin leasing ships, purchasing more containers and re-routing goods between warehouses to mitigate supply chain disruptions, adding it will now have to pass the costs onto its customers, according to Reuters. 

In a statement, the company said it will continue to face “significant transport and raw material constraints” that will drive up costs, adding the disruptions can continue “far onto 2022,” Reuters reported. 

IKEA and a number of retailers have seen soaring demand for their products as consumers stick closer to home and put more of their money into goods than travel and other services.