Exploring digitalisation at IKEA

Purpose The paper aims to clarify how an incumbent retail organisation explores digitalisation for its existing business. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws from an in-depth case study of home-furnishing retail giant, IKEA conducted with semi-structured interviews, participant observations and document analyses. Findings In the exploration phase of digitalisation, three major activities - interpreting, interrelating and integrating - illuminate how the exploration process can be organised in practice. Originality/value Although digitalisation ranks amongst the most significant ongoing transformations in retail businesses, research on how incumbent retail organisations have engaged in exploring digitalisation in practice has remained scarce. The paper contributes insights into digitalisation processes in retail businesses that may also apply to other trends affecting the retail industry.