IKEA Dubai Becomes First Retailer To Let Customers Pay With Time

In the Jebel Ali IKEA location in Dubai, customers who choose to share location data in Google Maps of how far they traveled to get to the store can now "Buy With Your Time" by getting a discount based on the distance they drove. In effect, the promotion gives them credit for the "dedication" they show in getting to the store. In theory, they can also get savings based on the amount of time they spend shopping, which anyone who has been to an IKEA knows is always about eleven hours longer than you expect you'll be there.

According to an IKEA spokesperson, the logic behind the program is altruistic:

"We think it's only right to reward our customers' efforts by repaying them for the time spent reaching us. It's our way of helping the Dubai community make the most of every minute."

As the Forbes reporter who shared the story notes, the campaign does take the celebration of consumerism to a whole new level, and the tracking required in order for it to work is a pretty blatant data grab. Still, the fact is IKEA stores are often in remote locations and the entire experience does take a long time. So if consumers feel like that time might be rewarded in the form of discounts, perhaps they will more happily spend hours shopping and come back more often, as the brand hopes.

If they wanted to make people really happy, though, they would offer a discount based on how much time you spend putting all that stuff together after you do get it home.