This is How Minimalists Shop in IKEA

Poorly.

Did you know that 60% of IKEA purchases are impulse buys and only 20% of them are based on actual need?

The psychology of how they make you spend in the warehouse of dreams (or is that nightmares?) is both incredibly obvious — they make you walk around the whole thing even if you’re just there to pick up a toilet brush — and incredibly effective.

Yesterday I had to visit my local IKEA. I’ve just moved to Porto… kind of. My residency application is in process and I’ve still got a couple of weeks to go until I hear. But they still make you sign a 12-month lease on an apartment before they let you know if you’re approved (go figure).

I figured I might as well wait it out in my new Portuguese apartment than with my parents in the UK.

The apartment needs some stuff but I’m in a tight spot. What if I don’t get approved? I don’t want to buy much or spend a lot of money if I’m forced to leave the country in a few weeks.

Enter IKEA.

Could I, a seasoned minimalist, resist the siren call of Flatpack World and buy exactly what I need right this minute and nothing more?

Of course I could.

Here’s the proof:

We’re talking two pillows and pillowcases, one bathmat and one doormat. And change from €25.

BOOM.

Before entering the world of blue and yellow, I didn’t think I’d manage to buy only what was on my list. I want a mattress topper and new bedding. Perhaps a blanket for the sofa. Plants. A new rug. After three years on the road, I want some items to make my new home feel more like mine.

And I was about to go into the belly of IKEA. A place notorious for tricking you into spending more than you want.

The way they do this is fascinating:

• They break all the rules of retail, forcing you to walk nearly a mile through a one-way circuit.

• This circuit encourages people to put things in their cart as and when they see them, for fear of having to backtrack through the maze later.

• IKEA makes use of the Gruen effect — “when the layout of a store is so bewildering that it makes you forget the original reason you came there, leading to impulse buys.” (source)

• Whilst most people only lay eyes on 33% of retail store products, IKEA makes sure that you see everything.

• There are no windows which means you’re completely immersed in IKEA-land.

• They use strategically placed mirrors to position you in the rooms they create so you can see yourself in the fantasy.

• They use “dump bins” — overstuffed crates of cheap products like toys to reinforce the idea that they are a good deal.

• Their restaurants incentivize you to stay longer. Customers who don’t buy food will spend an average of $78 on home furnishings whereas those that do will spend an average of $152.

To resist the siren call of IKEA takes some skill and a few psychological tricks of your own:

Remember all the tricks IKEA plays on you

If you know you have to go through the maze of mass produce, you’ll be less likely to get sucked in.

I know what you’re up to, IKEA. You can’t fool me.

Every time I saw something that made me go oooooh that would be nice, I gave myself a mental slap on the wrist.

You’re getting played. Recognize that and it’s half the battle won.

If it’s cheap, someone is getting screwed

In 1985, the famous Billy bookcase — one sold every 5 seconds, folks — was $82. Today, it’s $50.

In principle that might sound wonderful for you.

It’s not.

To make products that defy inflation means screwing a lot of people over. In the Billy bookcase case, it might be the wood supplier. It might be the workers who supervise the manufacturing. It will almost certainly be you because you’re the one purchasing a poor-quality product.

I truly believe that being a minimalist or simple living advocate goes beyond saving money or making yourself feel better. I believe we bear a social responsibility to make the world better, (or at the very least, not worse). Not buying poor quality, mass-produced furnishings (as much as possible) feeds into that responsibility.

Bear that in mind the next time you go shopping and watch what it does to how much you buy.

Feeding into that…

Independent stores > IKEA

My apartment has just two mugs in the cupboards which is no use for two Brits with a 6-cups-of-tea-a-day habit. We need a couple more.

The easy thing would have been to throw some mugs into my IKEA basket. €1 each, job done.

But close to my apartment is a gorgeous ceramic store run by a local Portuguese woman. If I were to buy my mugs there, they would be more meaningful, better quality, less impactful on the environment and support a local independent store.

But I don’t want to spend money on fancy mugs until I know my residency application has been approved. What do I do?

There’s no contest. I wait and I buy the fancy mugs once I hear.

I believe we must purchase the world we want to inhabit. If that means being mildly inconvenienced by owning just two mugs for a couple of weeks, so be it.

That goes for all IKEA purchases.

***

I’m not so unrealistic or principled that I don’t see the benefit of stores like IKEA. If that was the case I wouldn’t have gone at all. But I do believe that we should use them as a last resort, not as the norm or an easy day out with the kids.

They are the masters at manipulating our poor little Neanderthal brains. It’s not easy to resist the call of cheap side tables and bedside lamps.

But resist we should. We must. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck looking at a generic painting on your wall whilst you sit in your POÄNG chair, plush octopus wrapped around your head and wonder where $300 just went.

IKEA probably hates me for the way I shopped there this week with my €25 spend.

In fact, I hope it does.