An Ikea Macau launch is in planning as part of a global program to enter a dozen new markets and reach 3 billion potential new customers by 2025.

The plans were revealed by Torbjorn Loof, CEO of one of Ikea’s largest franchisors, Inter Ikea, which in Asia has the licence for the Swedish furniture and homewares retailer in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. The Ikea franchise in Hong Kong is owned by a subsidiary of Dairy Farm International, which also holds the Taiwan business, and might have been expected to have the rights to Ikea Macau, given the close proximity to Hong Kong and the probability that Macau would probably only sustain one store.

According to Loof, the brand will soon enter South America via its new franchisee Falabella, and plans to start selling products in predominantly emerging markets in Mexico, Estonia, the Ukraine, Puerto Rico, Oman, Luxembourg and the Philippines, as well as Macua.

During the past year, the firm opened for the first time in India and Latvia.

“By 2025, we have the potential to reach and interact with 3 billion people… We will offer new and different ways to shop the Ikea product range – online, in remote locations and in city centres. We will introduce smaller store formats and offer a wide range of flexible and affordable services.”

Inter Ikea has seen a 4.5 per cent increase in retail sales over the past year at its more than 400 stores worldwide. It operates in more than 50 markets, 35 of which have e-commerce platforms.

The China market has shown some of the biggest sales increases during the past year.

This year, Ikea’s total retail sales rose to €38.8 billion (US$44.7 billion) from €38.3 billion during the same period last year.