Ikea calls on iPhone to push catalogue

Ikea Western Australia and South Australia prepares to launch iPhone app in conjunction with its 2011 catalogue.

The move marks a new era for the retail giant, whose catalogue has taken on a bible-like status. According to a report in Business Week last year, the Ikea catalogue is the third most-printed book in the world.

Nigel Richardson, marketing manager for Ikea WA and SA told Print21 that making the catalogue available via internet and phone will reach customers on a new level. “iPhones are extremely popular and any new media is interesting to us,” he said. “It’s cost effective and we will test it out.”

This does not spell an end to the printed catalogue, however. Though he would not disclose details of the print-run other than to say that it is delivered to “every deliverable household in South Australia and Western Australia”, Richardson confirmed that the size of the catalogue, which is launched in September this year, would remain the same.

Richardson believes that the print catalogue is deeply embedded in Ikea’s history, and sees it as highly relevant, even in an electronic age.

“The catalogue does a different job [to other mediums] and we find it extremely effective,” he said. “Many people keep it for the whole year.”

Meerkats has been appointed as the advertising agency for the catalogue campaign but a spokesperson was not able to disclose details of what the campaign will involve.