Paper costs: Obi discontinues leaflets, other retailers print less
The German hardware store chain obi publishes his leaflet in Austria, citing high paper costs and environmental protection. “The production and printing of paper and the distribution of leaflets cost a lot of energy, chemicals, water and, of course, trees.
Paper has become massively more expensive due to the high gas prices, and the publishing industry is also rising. In addition, many Austrians reject flyers for reasons of avoiding waste, and the “No advertising” stickers are widespread, especially in metropolitan areas.
100 kilos of paper waste
According to the Footprint platform, which is supported by the WWF, Greenpeace, the Austrian Climate Alliance and the Federal Environment Agency, among others, direct mail causes around 100 kilograms of paper waste per household per year.
Furniture parts dealers by scope
Thomas Saliger, spokesman for the Wels furniture store chain XXXLutz (möbelix, Mömax) finds Obi’s step “brave”. The consumers would value the leaflets, taking into account their attitude at XXXLutz “is not an issue at all”. Which of course doesn’t mean that the furniture store chain doesn’t anticipate the rising paper costs. “We save the additional costs in terms of scope and requirements,” explains Saliger. In other words, the scope is reduced.
at Kika/Leiner because of the high price, the scope of the brochures is also reduced and there is a greater switch to e-mail marketing. “In retail, the brochure is still the most important medium for addressing customers, even if it has been declared dead for many years. The current paper crisis – prices have hardly increased since autumn 2021, and paper is just that – could bring about a turning point and have a lasting effect on the media mix in advertising,” says kika/Leiner boss Reinhold Güterbier.
No more Ikea catalogue
furniture dealer IKEA discontinued its catalog completely last year after 70 years. At its best, the catalog had a circulation of around 200 million copies in 32 languages. In addition to the online boom in the furniture trade, sustainability was also given as a reason last year. The goal is to be climate positive by 2030.
There is no talk of such measures at the country’s two largest food retail chains. The Salzburg press spokesman emphasized that the leaflets will not be reduced savings group and rewe (Billa, Billa Plus, Bipa, Penny) in unison.