IKEA Dubai is set to prove that time really is money by implementing a campaign that allows customers to use their time as money by just revealing their Google Maps timeline to IKEA checkout employees. The more a customer travels to get to an IKEA store, the bigger the payoff when checking out.
The new initiative, dubbed “Buy With Your Time” at IKEA Dubai, is based on the fact that customers typically spend an excessive amount of time travelling to stores, which are typically located on the outskirts of towns. As a result, clients can now purchase things using all of the time they’ve spent travelling there over the years (in addition to the regular dirhams). As a result, prices in its Dubai stores have been modified to reflect the average Dubai salary.
The partnership with Google Maps allows Dubai residents to use their time like cash in IKEA. In exchange, users must download Google Maps and allow it to track their movements wherever they go. The goal is to further normalise the concept of Big Tech invading our privacy, just so long as we get ‘free goodies’ in return.
IKEA is attempting to persuade visitors to spend even more time at the store. Long-term, the result will be to persuade us to give up more time than we would otherwise. According to John Sutter, we’ll be ‘paid for the time we’ve lost by losing even more’.
IKEA’s most recent innovation has the potential to be huge. It may encourage additional businesses to follow its lead by allowing us to pay for things over time. And, eventually, this may lead us to spend as much time as possible thinking about the world’s brands and corporations. IKEA is one of the world’s most successful enterprises, with a significant impact on our lives, but only time will tell how successful their latest move is.
