As the pandemic impacted society over the past two years, people in Taiwan increasingly came to rely on the convenience of online shopping. This trend reduced the number of customers visiting IKEA Taiwan’s physical stores. As a result, the atmosphere in stores began to feel more cheerless and lonely, and sales took a hit. Making people fall in love again with visiting IKEA stores became the brand’s most pressing mission in 2022.

What if a chair at IKEA could be a ticket to a concert?

Introducing “Couchella”: a 4-day music festival happening right inside IKEA, where the chair you choose from the store becomes your actual seat for the show!

According to previous research, the longer consumers spend in IKEA stores, the more they spend. Therefore, enticing more consumers to visit physical stores is a top priority.

We found that Taiwanese consumers are not unwilling to leave their homes and get out into the world. But they do need a fresh, interesting experience in a physical venue. Especially in recent years, music events have become more and more popular in Taiwan. Music festivals and concerts large and small have been growing in number with every passing year. Therefore, we decided to hold a special event to attract more consumers into the store. We aimed to drive purchases by creating a real experience in a real place.

Right inside an IKEA store, we held a four-day music festival, which we called “Couchella.” It featured several new music stars that are currently hot. And based on their musical style, we had them perform in different showrooms of the store: living room, bedroom, office, or kitchen. As the event finale, the acclaimed and talented diva Jia Jia sang in the restaurant area, and the popular band AccuseFive headlined the main stage.

Consumers got online and chose their favorite IKEA chairs in advance, and those chairs became the actual seats they sat on to enjoy the concerts. Just like at any concert, merchandise was for sale, including T-shirts, thundersticks, and shopping bags. And in between music sets, the fans could roam the whole store, discovering lots of surprising products, which generated more shopping opportunities.

The Couchella music festival, spanning four days, garnered an impressive 40,000 ticket registrations across Taiwan upon its online launch. Throughout the festival, the doors were open to everyone, allowing those without tickets to still enjoy the lively ambiance. This resulted in a notable 200% increase in weekday foot traffic. The event not only facilitated the sale of 104 sofas and chairs but also contributed to a 15% upswing in overall home decoration sales.

Whether attendees were pre-registered fans or spontaneous visitors during the festival, the music created a unique ambiance in each showroom, fostering a special connection with the furniture. Beyond purchasing the chairs used during the concerts (including the associated musical memories), visitors unexpectedly found additional items that piqued their interest, exceeding their initial expectations.