I'm genuinely surprised by your #2, because predictable pricing is the number one reason for me to rarely consider anything other than Ikea.
It might be a cultural thing, maybe the difference between Ikea and other alternatives goes along a very different line where you live. Here, conventional furniture stores are still pretty much selling at highly individualized prices, where they pull some random fantasy "regular price" out of thin air and leave it to short term campaigns and the discretion of individual salespersons to dazzle the customer with huge discounts. But if their "regular price" is so much of a fantasy that discounts >50% are the norm, how do I know the 60% discount is a reasonable deal and not something that will still make them laugh at me behind my back, for not driving it down to 90%? I very much prefer paying a predictable margin of which I know that it makes them rich by selling volume over paying a black box margin that might be twice as high as the next guy's because I did not achieve as good a cultural fit with my assigned salesperson, or because they already hit their volume goals for today and are now aiming for the margin bonus. It's annoying enough that I have to play these games with naturally individual transactions like when buying a used car, but for factory new mass produced items like furniture I'll gladly skip on the haggling game.
Chains of sofa stores in Italy follow this pattern to the point that ads are slightly ironic about their discounts and/or try to divert attention towards good craftsmanship, quality, etc.
Stores of expensive or custom furniture are completely different, with genuine market pressures keeping prices and quotes in check.
It might be a cultural thing, maybe the difference between Ikea and other alternatives goes along a very different line where you live. Here, conventional furniture stores are still pretty much selling at highly individualized prices, where they pull some random fantasy "regular price" out of thin air and leave it to short term campaigns and the discretion of individual salespersons to dazzle the customer with huge discounts. But if their "regular price" is so much of a fantasy that discounts >50% are the norm, how do I know the 60% discount is a reasonable deal and not something that will still make them laugh at me behind my back, for not driving it down to 90%? I very much prefer paying a predictable margin of which I know that it makes them rich by selling volume over paying a black box margin that might be twice as high as the next guy's because I did not achieve as good a cultural fit with my assigned salesperson, or because they already hit their volume goals for today and are now aiming for the margin bonus. It's annoying enough that I have to play these games with naturally individual transactions like when buying a used car, but for factory new mass produced items like furniture I'll gladly skip on the haggling game.