Months after announcing it will end its annual catalog, Swedish furniture retailer Ikea has given customers a new way to browse the beloved index.
Making its debut Tuesday, the new audio edition of the catalog aims to answer any possible questions puzzled Ikea shoppers may have about why it needs to exist.
“Let me personally assure you that it is real,” the narrator said in the prologue audio. “We know that by now, you’ve probably binged through every possible podcast, audiobook and ‘Best of 2020’ playlist there is, so maybe you could use some new soothing sounds to put on while we all continue waiting for normal life to get back to, yeah, normal,” the narrator said. “You can think of this audio piece as a tour for your ears.”
The audio catalog is marked by vivid descriptions of the 70th edition’s products. Listeners can explore the furnished homes of six different families before reviewing seven how-to sections and some to-do lists scattered throughout. All 13 chapters are available on YouTube, Spotify and Audiobooks.com.
Ikea’s new take on its longstanding publication comes after it announced the end of an era for the catalog in December.
That month, the retailer said that discontinuing the print and digital index was an “emotional but rational decision” as it looked “to the future with excitement.”
“For both customers and co-workers, the IKEA Catalog is a publication that brings a lot of emotions, memories and joy,” Konrad Grüss, managing director of Inter IKEA Systems B.V. said in a statement. “For 70 years it has been one of our most unique and iconic products, which has inspired billions of people across the world. Turning the page with our beloved catalog is in fact a natural process since media consumption and customer behaviors have changed. In order to reach and interact with the many people, we will keep inspiring with our home furnishing solutions in new ways.”