Ikea's foray into the gig economy

"For those left baffled by the assembly instructions for an Ikea cabinet, help is on the way"

Ikea workers help a customer.
(Image credit: Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)

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"For those left baffled by the assembly instructions for an Ikea cabinet, help is on the way," said Zlati Meyer at USA Today. The Swedish furniture giant announced last week that it has acquired TaskRabbit, a San Francisco–based startup that connects consumers with on-demand workers willing to do odd jobs around the house, such as fixing a broken toilet, hanging curtains, or — you guessed it — assembling Ikea furniture. Ikea, which didn't release financial details about the deal, said it hopes to use TaskRabbit's 60,000 freelancers in 40 U.S. cities and London to make it easier for customers to put together its shelves, sofas, and beds. Analysts praised the deal, saying that consumers might now choose Ikea over competitors "solely because the assembly service is practically built-in." This is Ikea's "first foray anywhere near Silicon Valley," said Saabira Chaudhuri and Eliot Brown at The Wall Street Journal. Many large, established companies are "grappling with big changes brought on by digitization," and they are turning to service-oriented tech firms "to help their business grow, or slow their decline."

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