Ikea Is Cutting Its Restaurant Prices. Here’s Why Retailers Want You to Eat Up.

Do you go to Ikea for the food? Then the company has good news for you. 

The home-furnishings retailer recently said it would slash the price of its U.S. in-store menu by half from Monday through Friday, with kids eating for free during the week, starting in August. That will mean lower prices on things like Swedish meatballs, pancakes and salmon fillets at more than 50 stores across the country. 

“We believe everyone should have access to delicious, nutritious meals without straining their budget,” said Lisa Ford, Ikea’s U.S. food commercial manager, in a statement to Investopedia.

Big retail chains that sell everything from bulk packs of shampoo, toilet paper and diapers to sofa sets, lamps, clothing and jewelry are looking to up their game when it comes to ready-to-eat meals—and managing prices in a bid to keep shoppers happy and fed. 

A reputation for serving food worth eating can be good for business, industry experts say, making a shopping trip feel more like an experience. And when it’s done right, it can be a draw. 

“Retailers are looking to drive more traffic into their locations,” said R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research with Placer.ai, which analyzes shopper foot-traffic patterns. “They want shoppers to stay longer in the stores and malls and potentially buy more products.”

Some retailers’ forays into food have scored them runaway hits. Costco’s $1.50 hot-dog-and-soda combo, which debuted in the 1980s, has become a staple for its devoted shoppers.

It’s not just bargain outlets that offer sustenance. You can enjoy breakfast—or lunch or afternoon tea—at Tiffany’s flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York City. One of the oldest examples of a retailer embracing in-store dining is the Walnut Room, which dates back to 1907 and is found on the 7th floor of Macy’s on Chicago’s State Street.

Department stores historically aspired to become one-stop shopping destinations for urban populations, said Huseyn Abdulla, assistant professor with the department of supply chain management at the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business. 

“But it was also a way to keep customers in the department store as long as possible with the intent of converting this traffic into more sales,” he said.

Ikea has served its meatballs to shoppers for about 40 years. It sells more than a billion of them worldwide a year, and the company says about a fifth of its shoppers go to its stores just to dine.

The draw, the company says, is the affordable menu, with an average meal—it sells breakfast, lunch and kids’ meals—costing an average of about $11 before the upcoming discounts, Ikea said.

“One of the pain points for a lot of consumers over the last couple of years has been food inflation and overall food prices,” said Hottovy. “Ikea probably is not going to be making a lot of profit on food but if it gets more people into stores and encourages them to buy something else from its stores, then it’s a smart move.”