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IKEA Buys TaskRabbit to Outsource Consumer Frustration

IKEA might be able to offer same day delivery, but to be really convenient they’d need to stuff a little assembly person (or robot) inside the package. That’s not yet possible but they’ve found the next best thing by purchasing TaskRabbit, which provides on-demand workers for exactly such chores. You wonder if IKEA has some grander plan here – they didn’t need to buy TaskRabbit if they only wanted to help customers schedule TaskRabbit services. Perhaps they are reimagining retailers’ core business as providing convenience, not physical products. Or maybe they’re just letting consumers pay someone else to be frustrated by IKEA assembly instructions.