IKEA customers in Sweden will benefit from improved mobile coverage with 4G and 5G across all stores. Telenor is delivering a mobile network that will be available regardless of operator, and which will be deployed in all 20 stores in time for the holiday season. The first network, installed at the Västerås store, will be completed in mid‑April.
"This is an important step in our journey to meet the needs of customers visiting our stores, for example by enabling the use of a range of digital services such as self‑scanning. We are also future‑proofing by introducing 5G from the outset. We are pleased to be doing this together with our service partner, Telenor", says Fredrik Dahlqvist, Country Service Operations Manager, IKEA Sweden.
Many IKEA customers begin their purchase journey at home, using various apps to plan ahead. With improved coverage and capacity in the stores, the digital customer journey can continue seamlessly into the physical environment, supported by the same digital tools.
The mobile network is procured as a service from Telenor, but will be available to all customers and employees regardless of which operator their subscription is with.
"We deliver both the infrastructure – the network itself – and take responsibility for its maintenance, allowing IKEA to focus on its core business. We also coordinate with other mobile operators. With strong mobile coverage, the digital shopping experience in IKEA’s physical stores becomes seamless, visits can be better planned and customer flows can be optimized", says Jessica Levin, Sales Director at Telenor.
The network will offer both 4G and 5G capacity from day one and will be operator‑independent. The technical solution is a mobile indoor network, a so‑called DAS system.
