Swedish home-furnishings giant Ikea gave a bleak outlook for the retail industry, saying it expects shortages from the supply-chain crisis to remain an issue through the middle of next year.
“The biggest challenge has been getting products out of China, where there has been a very limited capacity,” CEO Jon Abrahamsson Ring of Inter Ikea, the worldwide franchiser for the brand, said in an interview.
Shortages of transport containers and blocked-up ports have snarled logistics for retailers around the world. The turmoil has led to warnings about slower sales growth and higher costs at companies from Hennes & Mauritz AB to U.K. online retailer Asos Plc. To cope with the situation, Ikea had to prioritize and focus its product offering on the most popular products, Abrahamsson Ring said.