Ikea has launched one last online sale in Russia ahead of its final departure from the country. But the site crashed from the start with the number of customers trying to connect.
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Posted on 7/8/2022 6:07 PM Updated on 7/8/2022 6:44 PM
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In Russia, Ikea is almost at the end. The Swedish-born furniture giant – in fact, the company has long been based in the Netherlands – announced in June it would leave Russia for good, after initially closing its 17 stores and four factories and making its 15,000 employees in Russia technically jobless. Before leaving, Ikea is launching a final online sale of its remaining inventory in the area.
Should have at least started, because the rush of customers caused a huge computer bug on the furniture manufacturer’s website in Russia. Tens of thousands of Russians like Zlata couldn’t buy their latest furniture from the brand. “I prepared for a week, she says. At midnight, as he announced, I connected and found the site was planted, nothing happened.”
Zlata, on the other hand, would love to buy the dishwasher that is missing from her kitchen and that only Ikea sells. There is now a hole in the middle of his furniture. Like many Russians, she’s very used to the brand’s products, which don’t exist in Russia, explains Natalia, another disappointed customer: “I’m very sad about the departure from Ikea. Of course, many brands have left us, but even if I’m a fashion lover and I’m much less saddened by the departure of western brands than Ikea. Because we don’t have anything at all that could replace him.”
“If we have alternatives for clothes, there aren’t any for Ikea.”
Natalia, Russian
at franceinfo
Zlata is checking whether she can import her dishwasher to Kazakhstan via Ikea, while Natalia bought Ikea tea towels and bed linen, which came from Poland and passed through the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. The site was finally available during the day on Friday, July 8, but the order intake was so great that Ikea had to close it, this time voluntarily. The company ran out of delivery dates. A message on the homepage invites customers to be patient and come back next week when delivery is possible again.
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