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By R Cantillon, January 18, 2010 3:51 pm

A few days after Christmas, I went to IKEA with the hopes of purchasing a table, the day’s doorbuster special. My plan was to get there 30 minutes before IKEA opened, but I was already a few minutes late. When I pulled into the parking lot, my optimism left me as I looked to see a line already containing 30 people. I was certain that IKEA only had five of these tables, and that those five tables were guaranteed to the people already in line.

After I parked my car, I walked up to the line to find that it was moving into the store about 20 minutes earlier than the store opened. A man with a blue IKEA shirt was standing next to the line, and as I walked by he asked me, “Have you gotten your ticket for the table, yet?” He handed me a ticket telling me not to worry, that I was guaranteed a table, and that I should shop as long as I wanted.

The line filed into the store. The actual store wasn’t open yet, but there were sales associates pointing us to their cafe, where IKEA was providing eggs, bacon, and breakfast potatoes for free.

15 minutes later the store opened. I took my time walking through it and then paid for my table at checkout. After being pointed to the furniture pickup, I presented my receipt to a gentleman, who pulled out a cart with the parts for the table already on it. There were another ten ready for the next customers.

IKEA succeeded this day where so many seem to fail. They made it very easy to shop there. Did they have only five doorbuster tables? No, they had about 100 and were still handing out tickets by the time the store opened. They handed out tickets. No one had to run frantically into the store to find the table in some random location. Did customers get bored waiting outside before the store opened? No, IKEA sent everyone in early and bought them breakfast. Did I have to wait for the table once I paid? No, IKEA had a line of the tables on carts waiting for all of their customers that day.

It couldn’t have been any easier. They put thought and effort into serving me as a customer. So, perhaps, this is the principle of the post. Don’t make it a pain to be your customer. Make it easy. Make it enjoyable.