Leveraging artificial intelligence and technology to create an easy resell process for users, drive As-Is product sales, and create enthusiasm around second hand items.
IKEA’s current buyback program differed on geographic location. In the US, customers needed to fill out a form, get their item pre-approved, and then appraised in store before being resold. IKEA stores located in Canada and Europe used different methods. The difference in methods and processes created an inconsistent service. Many customers found the process troublesome, especially customers in the US who sometimes arrived at IKEA only to have their items turned away.
The inefficient of IKEA's buyback process combined with customer dissatisfaction presented an exciting opportunity to streamline the entire process. By leveraging AI to help users identify items, vet their condition, and process automation, wait times would significantly decrease.
Through market research and user sentiment analysis (from Reddit), I realized that an automated process would resolve user dissatisfaction and improve program adoption.
In their 2024 design guidelines, IKEA outlined their wish to reduce furniture waste throughout the entire production process. This therefore would create a circular product loop where products could be resold to IKEA, refurbished by IKEA and then issued back in the market, remanufactured by taking usable parts to make something new, or recycled into raw material for new products.
Since the pilot program launched in 2021, it has had a very low success rate. This meant that there was a high possibility of IKEA items ending up in the trash.
This was cnfirmed in their 2018 report to he World Economic Forum, where they estimated that 13.5 million pieces could have been recycled. Additionally, in 2022, IKEA reported a loss of approximately $1.7 billion due to supply chain issues.
Since it this project was for a hackathon, there wasn't much time for research. Hence, I turned to Reddit to see what users were saying about the program.
Initial findings revealed that users found the program tedious. Common pain points were: the lack of specificity in requirements for an item to be resold and the lack of clarity in whether a store was participating or not. Most users found the unnecessary and preferred selling their items online.
While Reddit comments highlighted key pain points and frustrations, following up with user surveys and interviews about the use and functionality if the buyback program would validate these insights across a wider audience.
The reddit reviews just highlighted issues within the buyback customer journey. From the comments, I was able to see that the journey differed drastically. Some users, found the process delightful while others felt frustrated at lack of information and guidance.
Disjointed program.
IKEA'S sellback program was obscured by three different layers site pages. It wasn't easy to access the page for the sellback program. Additionally, the program did not seem like it was related to any of the programs IKEA offered.
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Time consuming.
The process to sellback a piece of furniture to IKEA was time consuming. The process required filling out a form and multiple checks of the furniture (one in-store appraisal) before getting it sold.
Filled with uncertainty
Even if the cusmer submitted a form and was already in the process of reselling, their item could still be rejected last minute— if the item was being recalled or no longer eligible for resale. Additionally, the program did not specify which stores were accepting old furniture.
From the reddit comments, my team and I were able to create an ideal persona for our project. IKEA's target demographics are young professional, single or with families, ranging from their 20-30s who live in urban areas and frequently move apartments or living spaces. Their customers value affordable and stylish furniture options but most of all practicality.
The research pointed out the lack or relevance and coherence the buyback had in compared to the other flows on IKEA's page. However, there were opportunities to improve the buyback user flow, create a more circular experience for users and drive sales of As-Is products.
In doing so, I would highlight the circular lifecycle of IKEA products and help the company reach its 2030 sustainability goals.
One of the main issues with the buyback program was that it was hidden in within customer service pages. This made it feel disjointed from the overall shopping experience, and also diminished the programs impact.
In IKEA’s current information architecture, the buyback program is available through its customer service pages on and through users hub after sign-in. The problem with this structure is redundancy. Once a user clicks on the buyback program, they are taken back to the program’s page, instead of starting the buyback process.
My solution was to have users immediately start the buyback process with the option of learning more about the program. Additionally, for desktop devices. I took advantage of IKEA’s search for item feature by integrating AI that is able to search, identify, and vet the condition of the user’s item.
Allowing AI to take care of the initial steps in the buyback process automates and streamlines the user journey, reducing interaction costs and leaving little room for customer dissatisfaction.
Early versions of the designs heavily relied on customers importing images into IKEA's search bar. After a couple of iterations, I figured that would be easier for customers to begin their journey from their past purchases instead of the IKEA hub. This made more sense as old items would most likely show up in a customers purchase history.
From here, it was easier to autmoate the process as users didn't need to travel through a series of pages.
AI also creates the potential to drive sales of As-Is items. As soon as a customer drops off their item at the IKEA store, the item is immediately included in the inventory and any customer who has favorited or frequently viewed that item is notified.
On mobile devices, the buyback process is much faster since the customer just needs to point their camera to the item they wish to resell. The AI will recognize the item as an IKEA piece, vet its condition, and put it up for resell.
In my redesign, I wanted the process to be seamless an integrated with the user's purchase history. Doing so, would speed up the process and provide opportunities for automation, especially in inventory.
The QR on the buyback receipt is used to identify the object once returned to the store so that it is immediately added into As-Is department inventory.
Different types of technologies have improved retail experiences. For this project, I relied on AI to identify, classify, and keep track of previously sold and incoming items in order to automate IKEA's buyback program. However, I think there are opportunities to improve on this experience and even make it immersive.
In the future, it might be interesting to see how AI and extend reality technologies can change the user's shopping experience.
