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IKEA is retiring its iconic catalog after 70 years, as the company is transforming to become more digital and accessible.
“For both clients and co-workers, the Ikea Catalog is a publication that brings many emotions, memories and joy.
“Turning the page with our beloved catalog is emotional but rational. Media consumption and customer behaviors have changed, ”said Konrad Grüss, Managing Director of Inter IKEA Systems BV.
In a statement, the company said that its customers are becoming increasingly digital: Last year, its online sales increased 45% worldwide, while its website received more than four billion visits.
Grüss acknowledged that there was still a demand for catalogs and said the company will provide new tools and applications to help customers meet their furniture needs.
To celebrate the history of the catalog, Ikea will release a book “full of great inspiration and insight into home furnishings” in the fall of 2021.
He also provided five facts about the Ikea catalog:
- 1951: Ingvar Kamprad himself produced the first Ikea catalog, and the first cover in the catalog included the MK wing chair with brown upholstery. Printed and distributed in 285,000 copies in the southern part of Sweden. The catalog, in Swedish, had 68 pages.
- 1998: First “Ikea in the office” catalog available on the Internet, which was a special edition showing only business / office furniture. The ambition this year was to bring the full catalog online, but due to the complexity of IT systems, the launch was postponed.
- 2000: Launch of a printed and digital version of the Ikea Catalog.
- 2001: E-commerce is launched for the first time in Ikea history, in Sweden and Denmark.
- 2016: In its peak year, the Ikea Catalog was distributed in 200 million copies, in 69 different versions, 32 languages and in more than 50 markets.
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