MANILA - IKEA on Wednesday said its e-commerce operations in the Philippines is now in full swing as it officially opened its online store which would operate 24/7 starting Nov. 3.

The Swedish furniture maker started a test run of the capability of its online store in September by catering to orders in a limited capacity, ahead of its official launch as well as the opening of its physical store in Pasay City.

“After several weeks of learning from our test-run, we are glad that we are now accessible to more Filipinos,” said IKEA Pasay City store manager Georg Platzer.

“We are very excited to be part of the lives of the many people in the Philippines and share in their dreams of a better life at home," he added.

During the trial period, the most popular items are those under the home storage and work space categories, IKEA said. Children's items were also "popular," it added.

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Filipinos stuck at home during the pandemic were prompted to organize their homes and to invest in their remote work setup.

Filipinos eager to get stuff from the popular furniture maker caused its website to crash during the opening of the sign-up for its loyalty club.

IKEA Pasay City, the world's largest, is expected to open this quarter. The 5-storey facility will house its retail operations, warehouse, restaurant as well as a call center for the e-commerce part of the business among others.

Prior to opening, Swedish Ambassador to the Philippines Harald Fries and his wife were given a tour of the facility.

Last week, famous Filipino influencer Bryan Boy also visited the facility.

IKEA Pasay City, first announced in 2018, was supposed to open in 2020 but was moved to 2021 due to construction delays and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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