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After seventy years, Ikea will stop publishing its paper catalogue. “Times change”, the company says, speaking of an “emotional but rational decision”.
Digitisation
The decision to say goodbye to the iconic catalogue is closely linked to the company’s digital transformation in recent years. Last year, the furniture giant’s online sales increased by 45 per cent. Ikea’s website welcomed over four billion visitors. “Both media consumption and customer behaviour have changed dramatically,” says Konrad Grüss, Managing Director of Inter IKEA Systems. “The catalogue has become less and less important.”
The catalogue peaked in 2016 when over 200 million copies got distributed in 32 languages in more than fifty countries. Founder Ingvar Kamprad put together the first copy in 1951. The catalogue consisted of 68 pages and was only available in Swedish. This year the catalogue production counted forty million copies.
