Ikea scraps iconic catalogue after 70 years
- Swedish furniture giant will stop printing the famous booklet as customers move to digital alternatives
- The 2021 edition that shipped this summer will be the last physical version
Swedish furniture giant Ikea said on Monday it would stop printing its famed annual catalogue, ending a seven-decade tradition as customers moved to digital alternatives.
The catalogues offered a snapshot on contemporary living that made them intensely popular, with circulation reaching a peak in 2016, when 200 million copies in 32 different languages were distributed worldwide.
But with fewer people reading the printed catalogue as online shopping soared, the retailer said it had taken the “decision to respectfully end the successful career” of the Ikea Catalogue.
“After a 70-year-legacy we have taken the decision to turn the page and say: no, we won’t be printing the catalogue any more going forward, nor do a digital version,” said Konrad Gruss, Managing Director at Inter Ikea Systems.
Gruss called it “an emotional but also very rational decision”, as he noted a “big change in customer behaviour,” with customers now also choosing to “interact on the web, in apps and social media.”
In 2000 a digital version of the catalogue was launched, but this would also not be renewed.