How IKEA cut costs

If IKEA’s budget is that of the customer, that wallet is smaller than ever.
IKEA is the largest seller of furniture in the world with 460 stores in 62 countries that carry 9,500 products. The founder believed in “democratic design.” That is, everyday products should be attractive, functional, and affordable.
High inflation presents the dilemma of whether to raise prices and alienate customers or keep prices low and sacrifice profits. IKEA did a little bit of both.
Here are some of the ways they cut costs:
Substitute less expensive recycled aluminum for zinc.
Reduce unused space in flat packs. In some instances, this results in the furniture being shipped in two boxes where it was previously three.
Use paper foil printed with wood patterns to replace wood veneer in products like the Billy bookcase. By the way, those are the number one seller at IKEA.
Straighten out vertical salts so they can be better and more tightly packaged.
Use less steel where possible.
Reduce the size of things like armrests.
Use a less expensive wood material combination instead of thin layers of solid wood glued together.
Replacing metal nails with plastic fasteners.
Works Cited:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ikea-furniture-inflation-billy-c2f835bc?mod=hp_lead_pos10