Business Insider - After almost 70 years, Swedish furniture giant Ikea is scrapping its iconic catalog.
The company will no longer produce print and digital versions of the book, it announced Monday.
It's been touted as the most widely-distributed publication in the world, and more copies of the catalog are printed each year than the Bible or Quran.
Ikea's decision to scrap the catalog didn't come lightly. The company collected extensive customer feedback, it said, and decided to focus on its online store instead.
Ikea has seen a significant shift in consumer behavior thanks to the digital boom. In 2019, its online retail sales grew 45% worldwide.
Fewer people are using the catalog because of changing media consumption, it added.
The company will release a book of home furnishing inspiration "as tribute" in fall 2021.
"For 70 years it has been one of our most unique and iconic products, which has inspired billions of people across the world," Konrad Grüss, managing director of the chain's global franchisor Inter IKEA Systems, said.
Perhaps surprisingly, Ikea didn't didn't explicitly cite its environmental credentials as a reason for the decision.
The company has increasingly focused on sustainability as it works towards its goal of becoming carbon positive by 2030, and in November it started buying back and reselling UK customers' used furniture to counter the mass consumption associated with Black Friday.
