Ingka Centres introduces Step Store pop-up experience to promote healthy lifestyles

Meeting places across Europe and Asia from Ingka Centres will be opening Step Stores this month, a new pop-up space that allows visitors to swap daily steps for currency – to purchase health focused products, discounts at local stores, or to use for charity donations.

Participants will be asked to track their movement around their local meeting place through their mobile fitness app, or a step counter, which may be available to borrow upon entry in select meeting places.

Once visitor steps have been logged, they can be traded in for gifts, gift cards and discounts on offer at Step Store and surrounding shops, until stocks last.

The higher the number of steps, the more gifts there will be available to unlock.

As part of the experience, selected meeting places will also transport visitors to virtual reality environments.

They will be able to collect more step points as they enjoy the scenery, whether that’s taking a hike around the Grand Canyon, walking to the Makapu’u Lighthouse in Hawaii or taking a stroll through Bern, Switzerland.

Ikea

Ingka Group, the largest Ikea retailer, has announced an investment of more than $2.2 billion in omnichannel growth in the United States over the next three years.

Marking its largest investment in almost four decades of operating in the country, the company will open new stores and locations, strengthen its fulfilment network, and boost its product offering.

The aim is to get closer to customers both physically and digitally.

In the first phase, the plan is to open eight new stores and nine plan and order points, creating over 2,000 jobs. Ikea US has also announced new locations in San Francisco, California and Arlington, Virginia, set to open this summer.

This ties into Ingka Group’s focus on omnichannel growth and expansion across the world.

In Spain, it is investing Euro 150 million in opening new locations around the country by 2025.

It is expanding in the UK and London, where it will open a city store on Oxford Street – its second in the capital.

In Austria, over the last three years, it has increased the number of stores and planning studios from eight to 45.

The US investment will also update existing stores so that they have a dual role – to offer inspiration and home furnishing expertise while also increasing their handling capacity for parcel deliveries.

And Ingka Group says that it will “continue to build more effective replenishment and fulfilment capabilities while transforming last mile deliveries to ensure faster, more sustainable, and more affordable deliveries”.

It will also explore new opportunities in clean energy, circularity and affordable housing around the US.

As Ikea works toward its goal to be climate positive by 2030, it will increase solar and geothermal technology in locations whenever possible, transition to EV trucks to support fulfilment and delivery, and reduce waste.