Lukas Gregor Some love her, others hate her. It symbolizes consumerism, globalization and uniformity. However, you can equip the whole house with it and save significantly. It was born in Sweden, but it also responds to the needs and demands of our people. IKEA.
No, don't worry, I'm not going to review this brand's products, nor call out or vilify their business strategies. I was interested in something else - how this multinational chain coped with the tablet and smartphone from Apple, that is, whether it can currently satisfy not only those who walk through large IKEA stores in person, but also others - who prefer a virtual walk.
It took some time before even Czech customers got localization, IKEA had its application, but browsing products awarded by foreign stores was not of general importance. I admit that even after joining honored I didn't like the IKEA catalog very well. In short, I only saw better ones behind her bitch, since version 3, which has now received even more minor updates, I can be much more positive.
After starting the application, you mark the country and then wait until a few tens of MB are downloaded to your device. The IKEA catalog can be viewed offline, so expect that you will have to sacrifice some space. When you click on the downloaded catalog, its front page will appear, but if you don't want to just browse, click on it as well. A black control bar slides out at the top. Now we will be interested in the quadrant that turns the screen into a content walkthrough.
The basic areas of the offer were named by IKEA according to the activities - we store, sleep, take care of ourselves, cook, dine, work, rest – so it is not difficult to get your bearings immediately. Right after these links, there are specific designations of product categories (e.g. lighting, decoration, etc.). Browsing itself is simple and not unlike flipping through a printed catalog. The digital one naturally has several advantages.
For example, if I click on we save and I select one double-sided (in the picture it is the one with the number 26-27), I see not only photos of the storage space, but thanks to the option at the bottom of the display (show products) also individual accessories that are part of the photo, or presented piece of furniture or room. You can tap on them to learn more details. Of course, in digital form, photos can also be enlarged, although not drastically, but it is enough to look at the shelves in the living room.
You can use the + button in the upper right corner passage save to favorites, share it, or share the entire catalog (well, rather just a link to it…). Above the plus sign, there is a search field in the corner, again speeding up compared to classic printed catalogs.
However, the application gains more tangible advantages thanks to the function additional information – when scrolling, if there are any, another icon, symbolizing two windows sitting one behind the other, will be highlighted at the top next to the + button. In practice, this means that while in the catalog you have a photo of the cabinet with a single "setting", the additional information opens a gallery where the cabinet doors open and close, while also changing their color/material each time. Galleries often offer placing products in "real" spaces, different ways of use, either through photos or a few videos.
By the way, you can activate this function even if you are flipping through the printed catalog with an iPhone/iPad in your hand. The given page has a phone icon next to it, and the IKEA app has the option to tap on after launching scan. The phone collects the basic data and then you find yourself in additional details and galleries. (To be a little nitpicky, I don't really think of the importance of this function, if I have a whole catalog in my tablet, why flip through printed and scan something... Only in case I want the few mega save and do not download the entire catalog.)
Connections with websites and stores also work in the application. As for the details of which product, the application offers only the most basic, for more information click on the link and feel free to read on inside the program or include it in the shopping list. You can also find out if the store in your region has this product in stock.
So there are no great miracles, I could imagine that the catalog would be directly interactive - no pull-out bar with products, but tapping your fingers directly into the illustrative photos. However, it is not necessary, so I will end on an optimistic note. I definitely like the digital version more than the printed catalog and the website. It offers convenient browsing, image enlargement, saving as well as additional galleries and videos.
[app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/ikea-catalogue/id386592716″]
I don't understand the hatred people have for IKEA. After all, I choose a product that I like and that suits me and I don't immediately judge it because it was made by this or that company. The same applies to electronics.
The only advantage of scanning pages in a printed catalog is the fact that sometimes you will also see a 3D model of the given product, and when you turn the printed catalog, you can look at it from all sides. However, it must be said that it doesn't work very well for them.