While dining on the traditional Svensk maten (Swedish food) of meatballs and salmon filet at our local IKEA in Glendale, CA today, I noticed some new signage about how IKEA keeps their prices low.
It all starts with setting the price first and designing accordingly. This is the same concept I teach in my Fundamentals of the Fashion Industry class at Woodbury University: Identify your target price point first, then make every design and sourcing decision based on these budgetary constraints. It's ONLY in this way that any product manufacturer can achieve healthy margins while still ensuring their product is competitive.