I am not IKEA's biggest fan, I don't like the fact that once you are in the store past a certain point you are not easily able to get out, normally you can't until you reach the end of the maze of arrowed floors and high stacked shelves. I appreciate that this is a model that has worked for years and that a large percentage of the people who enter the store knowing exactly what they want, leave with extra items and a light wallet. However that sales system is all I had ever thought was in operation, until I had to return a wardrobe I'd bought for my son's bedroom.

We'd bought a wardrobe that was a couple of centimeters too high for the room so we needed to return it for a different size. As I hardly ever buy anything from IKEA Milton Keynes I had no idea where to go to return an item, so wandering around to find a flatbed trolley I managed to see where we needed to go. Once loaded we went straight there. After a few moments of confusion we found that we needed to get a ticket and wait for our number to be called. I could see there were 2 members of staff operating 2 of the 4 tills, and an doctor's surgery style LED board above them stating that there was a 23 minute wait to be seen. Looking around I could not see why there should be that long a wait. It wasn't packed with people in this part of the store, there must only have been 6/7 people in front of us. To the left of us was a fast food counter selling hotdogs, fries and drinks. I noticed this on my way in but thought nothing of it until.....in this order:

1. I had gotten a ticket and found we had 23 minutes to wait to be seen.
2. I looked around and noticed the fast food counter selling a hotdog, fries and soft drink for £1.60.
3. I thought, and I remember saying to my dad "We might as well have the meal as we have 23 minutes to wait".
4. I bought the meals and went and sat down to eat while waiting to be seen.
5. I looked around and had a moment of clarity, it was the fact that I had been sold this meal by 3 things, the placement of the fast food counter, the price of the meal and them letting me know the waiting time.

I had to have a little smile to myself when I realised, even more so when I looked around and noticed that every other person was eating or drinking something. I thought it was brilliant and it lightened up my trip to somewhere I don't particularly like going. I think it goes without saying that I didn't have to wait 23 minutes, it was maximum 15 but it was all part of the sale. I wasn't even hungry!

I hope that this sparks some ideas for others in a business where they can make some small changes to maximise their sales. Just a little bit of thought and implementation.