Icelandic mail carriers turn weight lifters with IKEA catalogue

It’s the biggest week of the year for mail carriers in Iceland – with the latest IKEA catalogue going out to almost 118,000 homes across the country. Iceland Post said the deliveries on behalf of the Swedish furniture retail giant, which started yesterday, beat even the Christmas period in terms of weighing down its delivery bags.

An average day for an Icelandic mail carrier means a mail bag of around 20 kg (44 lb), and the few days before Christmas doubles that weight.

Iceland Post said mail carriers would be delivering over 100kg (220 lb) of mail over the next few days, to all homes that have not opted out of receiving unaddressed mail.

Carriers with the largest neighbourhood routes could be delivering as much as 300kg (660 lb) of catalogues by the weekend.

In a statement, Iceland Post said that while the catalogue is heavy, is eagerly anticipated by Icelandic householders, and there are always numerous phone calls from those that have not yet received their copy.

Homes that do not have a copy by Monday will be steered towards a helpline.

The Post said: “The IKEA catalogue has been delivered by mail for many years, and this is one of the largest and heaviest single distributions in the Post – but it is also one of the most popular saturation mailing, and there is always high tension among the public waiting for their IKEA catalogue to arrive.”

The catalogue is IKEA’s main marketing channel across the globe, with around 197m copies printed each year in 29 languages and 61 editions.

To deliver it, mail carriers in 38 countries carry between them around 103,000 tonnes of catalogues.

IKEA has operated in Iceland since 1981.