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Comment by Semaphor | Hacker News Reader

It’s funny, because their layout makes me spend less. Not because it doesn’t work, but because it makes me absolutely dread going there. There’s no other store I hate going to as much as Ikea because of the pure annoyance of their layout. So I usually don’t.

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I guess I'm here to shill for Ikea. I enjoy wandering around the labyrinthian layout (though it was always clear to me this was intentional to make you spend more time in store), and the level of detail is impressive - open a drawer in the showroom and you can buy the organizer and all the utensils within. As I've aged a bit, the spare, modern nordic design of everything isn't quite as appealing as it was to my younger self, but I still like it. I suppose it's the unified design of the entire store experience that works for me. I even enjoy putting the furniture together with their wordless instructions, though I'm told many people find it frustrating. Also, the furniture is cheap to the point of disposability which I consider a double-edged sword. You certainly wont be passing on heirloom Ikea furniture to grandchildren, but it does the job for a bit and you can move on from it without much worry if you need to get rid of it quickly.

Exactly this, if I want a single item I want to go and buy it and walk out of the store with the least friction possible. One coud argue that this is the reason why Ikea are not nearly as succesful as they could have been.

I should also mention their e-commerce business which is beyond terrible. Considering how many years they have had to get this right, this has to be their biggest failure by far.

I’ve been known to look at what I want online, check the store inventory and where it’s located and go in through the exit to get what I want and leave.

This is definitely the trick. My wife and I buy plenty of IKEA stuff, but I haven’t been beyond the exit warehouse in years.

I'm with you.

We sometimes have no choice but to go to Ikea (in some furniture categories, in this country it's difficult-to-impossible to find options in between Ikea and excessively expensive) but we view it as a necessary evil, and always take the same approach: do a speed-run through the store (taking all shortcuts) until we hit the exact section we need. Sit, recline, feel, examine, decide... and then continue on the the next section.

The only area that sometimes defeats us is the kitchen-ware.

One great part about their layout, however, is the placement of their grocery section — you can bypass everything, zip over there, & get out of the store quite quickly. And the grocery section is really the best part of what they offer, at least in the US, where many flavors, and some items, are all but unavailable elsewhere.

I feel the same way. Its so awful to walk the long narrow paths, that are clogged with slow-walking smelly people. The store in my city is also overheated, so not only is it torturous to walk the store, its also hard to breathe and sweaty.

This was my feeling the one and only time I went into an IKEA. I actually had a panic attack halfway through because of the no way out, crowded, hot maze I had unexpectedly been thrust into. Not for me, for sure.

You don’t have to follow the entire designated route. I just look at the map and use the built-in short cuts. I go when it’s not busy. I get in and get out easily.

Yeah, but that is stressful, stress that I avoid by going somewhere I don’t feel railroaded. Hell, I might even walk everywhere and look at everything to see what else I could need, but I won’t feel railroaded to do so.

I always thought it was fun finding the shortcuts.

We really only go when we need something that Ikea specifically has a good product and price for. En route through the store we pick up any of the other basic or clever stuff that we need (I like their crockery and various kitchen utils), and end near the cash registers in the second-hand section to fill a bag with a selection of special screws, bolts, and those clever nuts they have for €2. For someone into woodworking those bins are a treasure chest.

And of course pick up some Swedish food in the little Ikea supermarket beyond the cash registers.

I've never understood how people get stuck following the designated route. Much faster to just take the shortcuts and stay of the (crowded) main path.

As proud as HN commenters are of not falling prey to the tricks that work on normies, this shouldn’t surprise you. IKEA isn’t designing their store to extract maximum value from you.

As I mentioned, it is working on me just as well as on the next person. I’d love to claim differently, but for this, I can’t. It’s the side effect that destroys it.

> It’s funny, because their layout makes me spend less.

Literally what you said.

Yes, maybe you shouldn’t have stopped reading afterwards.

If you go to the store less because you hate the experience, it doesn’t work.

This is like saying, “The medicine works on me but I don’t like the flavor so I hardly ever take it.”

The medicine doesn’t work on you!

Your analogy is perfect, because I come to exactly the opposite conclusion.

The medicine only works if you take it.

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