Stockholm:
Swedish furnishings giant Ikea stated Monday it would quit printing its famed annual catalogue, ending a seven-decade tradition as buyers moved to digital options.
The catalogues provided a snapshot on modern living that created them intensely well-known, with circulation reaching a peak in 2016, when 200 million copies in 32 unique languages have been distributed worldwide.
But as fewer people today have been reading the printed catalogue as on the web buying soared, the retailer stated it had taken the “decision to respectfully end the successful career of the Ikea Catalogue”.
According to Ikea, the extremely very first catalogue was place with each other by the Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad himself in 1951, and it was printed in 285,000 copies, which have been distributed about the southern portion of Sweden exactly where the enterprise was also began.
“For 70 years it has been one of our most unique and iconic products,” Konrad Gruss, Managing Director at Inter Ikea Systems, stated in a statement.
“Turning the page with our beloved catalogue is emotional but rational,” Gruss added.
Scrapping the physical catalogue is portion of Ikea’s transformation “to become more digital and accessible,” the enterprise stated although noting that on the web sales had elevated by 45 % worldwide final year.
The final 1 to be printed was the 2021 version that shipped this summer season and was printed in 40 million copies.
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