‘An emotional but rational decision’, Ikea shuts iconic catalogue after 70 years

Swedish
multi-giant IKEA decided to put a dignified stop to their 70-year-old
tradition on Monday with an announcement of ceasing their popular annual catalogue
printing owing to customers’ orientation towards digital media.

“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,” Konrad Gruss, managing director at Inter Ikea Systems, told AFP.

Calling
it ‘an emotional but also very rational decision’, Gruss noted that customer behavior
change is the key reason behind the decision.

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The
catalogue, considered to be the prime marketing tool for a long time, has
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 the advent of online shopping, the company decided to ‘respectfully end
the successful career’ of the Ikea Catalogue as the print catalogue’s
popularity continued to decline.

The company
has also decided not to renew the digital version of the catalogue, which was
launched in 2000.

The managing director also informed that the decision would probably have been taken in 2022 or 2023
but the ongoing spread of COVID-19 has catalyzed the process of shutting the
catalogue down.

Even
though the catalogue would not have a digital replacement, Gruss stressed that
dropping it was ‘not a cost saving exercise.’

“The
money that we’re not using for production (of the catalogue) we will reinvest
into other media,” Gruss said, while declining to say how much the
catalogue cost.

It is
reportedly claimed that Ikea catalogue has often been cited alongside the
Bible, the Koran and Harry Potter books in terms of the total number of copies
printed.

The
last printed catalogue was the 2021 version that shipped this summer with 40
million copies.