The IKEA catalog has turned into a podcast

Instead of rummaging through the annual catalog of a Swedish retailer, users can now listen to the audio version.

The popularity of podcasts is proliferating, and it is a format of content consumption that has become customary and convenient for users. In response, IKEA decided to keep up with the trend. The retailer has presented its podcast devoted to the brand’s catalog through 2021.

As the company itself describes the project, it is a convenient alternative to the impressive volume, which will allow you to run through the pages of the catalog in a comfortable format without occupying your hands. The IKEA 2021 catalog is presented to users as a four-hour podcast, which is already available for free listening on YouTube, Spotify, and Audiobooks.com.

In the podcast, the narrator describes the contents of the volume, page by page. Each audio chapter describes an individual home’s furnishings in the catalog and offers practical furnishing and decorating tips.

The preface to the catalog invites listeners bored at home during lockdown to listen to something soothing and relaxing. Perhaps it is the monotonous descriptions of yet another nightstand or bookcase that will serve as a distraction from negative news. 

The new catalog’s unusualness and the increased interest in it are also emphasized by the fact that it will be the last in the history of IKEA. After 70 years of publishing traditional furniture and home accessories volumes, the company has decided to discontinue this tradition, following customers’ reorientation to online shopping.