Consumers may soon be able to buy IKEA products through other online retailers

Home furnishing retailer, IKEA plans to test selling its products on websites other than its own, as it targets more online customers, the head of brand and strategy owner Inter IKEA Group said.

The decision means IKEA's customers may soon be able to buy its flat-pack furniture and other home furnishings through other online retailers like Amazon or Chinese rival Alibaba.

Torbjorn Loof, CEO, Inter IKEA Group, said, "The plan is to start testing in 2018.

He said, "On digital platforms, we only sell our products through our own website, and there we also see that the competitive landscape is changing."

However, the company said that it has not made any decision regarding which specific platforms would be involved.

IKEA has never sold its goods through another company and is also trying new smaller store formats and stepping up integration of stores and online to adapt to new ways of shopping.

Loof said, "There is a rapid change in the market where much of what we have learned and what we know of is changing radically."

He added, "We have one great advantage and that is that we design, produce and distribute our own unique range."