I'm inclined to agree with you. I don't think IKEA sells shovels. At least, not in the way Apple does. BMW is more of a middle ground between the two. I think

I'm inclined to agree with you. I don't think IKEA sells shovels. At least, not in the way Apple does. BMW is more of a middle ground between the two. I think what we're looking at is selling experiences? You can sell shovels and bundle experience with them - I think it's pretty straightforward to view Apple from that perspective. But home furnishings are just purely experiences. Clothing seems to fall into the same experience category. So maybe it's a sort of trifecta. Middlemen, Shovels, and experience. When I buy a television there's going to be a middleman - a retailer - who probably can provide some pro/con to the experience category. But what's driving me is the experience that the TV will afford. Same with IKEA. When I buy a Macbook Pro I'm looking for a device that can help me edit code and video in ways that I enjoy, so the shovel factor is important to me. If I'm going to buy a luxury car like a BMW then there's the shovel-factor of having reliable transportation, but the premium price comes from experience. Utility, middle-men, and experience. The extra category of experience seems to fill in the gaps.