Ikea has cut the price of home delivery from £35 to £15-£25. Photograph: Action Press/Rex Features Ikea sales are booming in the UK as price cuts, cheaper home deliveries and making more products available online helped the world's largest furniture retailer grab a bigger market share. The Swedish company said a £30m investment in its 18 UK stores and website had paid off, with like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland climbing 6.3% to £1.2bn in the year to 31 August, the biggest increase in six years. Ikea bucked the trend of falling big-ticket sales - the UK market as a whole was down 2.2% - and increased market share by 0.4% to 6.8%. Online like-for-like sales leapt 25% after a further 1,500 products were made available. Reducing the price of the most popular bedroom storage range, Pax, contributed to like-for-like growth of 16.7% in sales of bedrooms. Prices were lowered by 0.6% overall, following a 5% reduction the year before. Ikea invested £4.7m in slashing the cost of home deliveries from an average of £35 to between £15 and £25. New in-store "pick and delivery" and "furniture take back" services were also launched. As it celebrates its 25th anniversary in the UK, the company has sought to brighten up its functional stores by introducing workshops on how to customise products and sampling from its Swedish food market. Carole Reddish, acting manager for the UK and Ireland, said it was about bringing theatre to the shopping experience. The retailer also plans to introduce Wi-Fi. Ikea has won planning permission from West Berkshire Council to build its 19th UK store in Reading - and aims to double the current number of outlets. The company did not release profit figures.