The death of the Ikea catalogue and what it means for marketing use of catalogues
Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2024 8:27 am
One of the traditions of Christmas is a piece of paper with marketing and advertising ambitions. It could be said that for many, Christmas does not arrive until the toy catalogue arrives. In fact, the symbolic importance of the toy catalogue remains beyond the moment in which one is the direct consumer of that type of product and even when one does not have children in the family for whom to choose those products.
This year, the toy catalogue arrived. It was in the advertising baskets in the entrances of buildings and on the doors of toy store chains, waiting to be picked up and taken home. Its contents will serve once again to determine what the Three Wise Men are expected to bring and as a guide for writing "the letter."
The health of the toy catalogue does not seem to be in danger, but this does not mean that all catalogues are in the same situation or that they will suffer the same fate. The catalogue, one of the crucial pieces of the direct marketing strategy for decades, is now in a rather complicated moment.
On the one hand, it is one more of the collateral damages of digitalisation, to which we must add that it fits poorly with the desire to be much more environmentally efficient.
On the other hand, however, it remains an element with which consumers have a certain emotional connection. The struggle between both realities will determine the future of the catalogue as a marketing solution.
The end of the Ikea catalogue
The latest in the news about advertising catalogues seems to be proving the first of the groups right. Ikea has just announced that it is ending the publication of its physical catalogue, one of those classic elements that consumers look forward to when September comes around. It is, in fact, one of the publications with the highest circulation in the world.
Or it was. Ikea has just announced that it has decided to stop publishing its catalogue. The reason: its customers have moved online. As consumers increasingly shop online but also increasingly use the internet to find inspiration and new products, Ikea has decided to go digital. In the scenario of a more digitalised company, the paper catalogue has no place.
The last catalogue, which was launched this year, had a circulation of 40 million copies. The year in which it reached its peak distribution, Reuters explains , was in 20016, when 200 million copies of the catalogue were distributed in 50 markets.
"The catalogue has become less and less all contact number list important," Konrad Gruss, a company executive, told Reuters . "Interest in the catalogue has fallen," he said, noting that not only have copies been down in print runs but consumers have also seen an increase in their use of web tools.
The decision, she admits, was an emotional one. However, according to the news agency, paper is not going to disappear completely from Ikea. The company is working on a smaller publication that will function as an inspiration for home furnishings.
In a way, the disappearance of the Ikea catalogue fits in with other news and movements in the sector, such as the crisis in catalogue sales. In Spain, the clearest example of this situation was the closure of Círculo de Lectores , the home book sales service that was unable to compete with the pull of e-commerce.
The emotional power of the catalogue
But, faced with these realities, there are also those who are recovering the catalogue or those who are creating their first catalogues, which shows that the situation of this marketing tool is more complicated than it might seem at first sight. Catalogues have a certain emotional power for consumers, who associate them with certain behaviors. This is what happens with the aforementioned toy catalogs and what made even Amazon launch its own .
In addition, this year had begun with a certain revival of the catalogue . Some retail companies had brought it back and some e-commerce companies had begun to create their own, to position products in front of consumers and take them to their homes.
This year, the toy catalogue arrived. It was in the advertising baskets in the entrances of buildings and on the doors of toy store chains, waiting to be picked up and taken home. Its contents will serve once again to determine what the Three Wise Men are expected to bring and as a guide for writing "the letter."
The health of the toy catalogue does not seem to be in danger, but this does not mean that all catalogues are in the same situation or that they will suffer the same fate. The catalogue, one of the crucial pieces of the direct marketing strategy for decades, is now in a rather complicated moment.
On the one hand, it is one more of the collateral damages of digitalisation, to which we must add that it fits poorly with the desire to be much more environmentally efficient.
On the other hand, however, it remains an element with which consumers have a certain emotional connection. The struggle between both realities will determine the future of the catalogue as a marketing solution.
The end of the Ikea catalogue
The latest in the news about advertising catalogues seems to be proving the first of the groups right. Ikea has just announced that it is ending the publication of its physical catalogue, one of those classic elements that consumers look forward to when September comes around. It is, in fact, one of the publications with the highest circulation in the world.
Or it was. Ikea has just announced that it has decided to stop publishing its catalogue. The reason: its customers have moved online. As consumers increasingly shop online but also increasingly use the internet to find inspiration and new products, Ikea has decided to go digital. In the scenario of a more digitalised company, the paper catalogue has no place.
The last catalogue, which was launched this year, had a circulation of 40 million copies. The year in which it reached its peak distribution, Reuters explains , was in 20016, when 200 million copies of the catalogue were distributed in 50 markets.
"The catalogue has become less and less all contact number list important," Konrad Gruss, a company executive, told Reuters . "Interest in the catalogue has fallen," he said, noting that not only have copies been down in print runs but consumers have also seen an increase in their use of web tools.
The decision, she admits, was an emotional one. However, according to the news agency, paper is not going to disappear completely from Ikea. The company is working on a smaller publication that will function as an inspiration for home furnishings.
In a way, the disappearance of the Ikea catalogue fits in with other news and movements in the sector, such as the crisis in catalogue sales. In Spain, the clearest example of this situation was the closure of Círculo de Lectores , the home book sales service that was unable to compete with the pull of e-commerce.
The emotional power of the catalogue
But, faced with these realities, there are also those who are recovering the catalogue or those who are creating their first catalogues, which shows that the situation of this marketing tool is more complicated than it might seem at first sight. Catalogues have a certain emotional power for consumers, who associate them with certain behaviors. This is what happens with the aforementioned toy catalogs and what made even Amazon launch its own .
In addition, this year had begun with a certain revival of the catalogue . Some retail companies had brought it back and some e-commerce companies had begun to create their own, to position products in front of consumers and take them to their homes.