IKEA is training Billie to help me redecorate

IKEA is training its call center people, as well as Billie, to become interior design consultants, Reuters reports. The Swedish mobile giant aims to offer services that can improve home comfort and answer simple questions from customers with the help of Billie, an artificial intelligence robot.

In April, IKEA expanded its interior design services in the UK and the United States, following earlier launches in Europe, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere, Reuters reports. In the UK, customers pay 25 pounds for a 45-60 minute video call in which they receive interior design advice as well as a list of suggested products. Also, for 125 pounds, they receive three workspace design consultations, sketch and 3D images.

Ingka Group, IKEA's largest retailer, says it is training 8,500 call-center workers to become interior design advisors starting in 2021. Billie - also launched in 2021 - has handled 47% of customer enquiries to the call center in that time, Reuters reports.

What I found interesting is what Ulrika Biesert, global people and culture manager Ingka Group, said. "We are committed to strengthening the employability of Ingka's colleagues through lifelong learning, development and retraining and accelerating the creation of new jobs." Here's to more Billie, I think. And it seems Reuters reporter Helen Reid thinks so too, since she asked "whether the increased use of artificial intelligence could lead to a reduction in headcount at the company." "That's not what we're seeing right now." was the response she got.

Voice and video call sales of products and services through Ingka's remote interior design channel accounted for €1.3 billion ($1.40 billion) in revenue in Ingka's fiscal year 2022 (Sept. 1, 2021-Aug. 31, 2022), or 3.3% of the total. Ingka Group told Reuters that it plans to increase this share to 10% by 2028, as part of a strategy to attract future Generation Z customers (i.e. people born between 1990-2010).

By comparison, online sales of products through the IKEA website, which is owned by Ingka, amounted to approximately €9.9 billion, or 25% of total sales in Ingka's financial year ended August 31, 2022.

This year I browsed IKEA's online stores in several countries and bought from those in Romania and the Netherlands. The platforms look the same, I think it's just the stores and their stocks that differ. And the stock of the store near you is updated in real time, which is very helpful if you want to pick up your order in person. It's extremely easy to navigate and extremely intuitive, from any platform, in any country.

I don't think the time is far off when Billie will help me redecorate. And I don't want anyone to think I have anything against Billie. Uh, no, no, no. I'm the first one to put pressure on IKEA prices. I can't be mad at Billie.

Source Reuters