Global furniture company Ikea’s total retail sales reached €38.8 billion ($63.1 billion) in FY18, a 4.5 per cent increase over the previous year.

The Swedish flatpack furniture giant opened 19 new stores globally during the period, pushing total store count to 422, and added two new markets: India and Latvia.

The retailer has an online presence in 35 markets around the globe and saw 2.5 billion visits to its website last fiscal year.

Ikea noted that it has seen continued growth despite a challenging and changing retail environment, with customers continuing to travel to Ikea stores to touch, try, shop and be inspired by their home furnishing solutions.

“By 2025, we have the potential to reach and interact with 3 billion people,” Inter Ikea Group chief executive Torbjörn Lööf said.

“We will offer new and different ways to shop the Ikea product range – online, in remote locations and in city centres. We will introduce smaller store formats and offer a wide range of flexible and affordable services.”

The retailer is set to expand into South America through a new franchisee, department store chain Falabella, with stores to open in Chile, Colombia and Peru. Nine stores are planned in the region over a 10 year period.

Ikea will open 15 new stores across Mexico, Estonia, Ukraine, Puerto Rico, Oman, Luxembourg, Macau and the Philippines in FY19.

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