Hotspot Enterprises has entered into a €1.7 million deal with Progress Press and Maltapost for the printing and distribution of a door-to-door catalogue magazine.

The agreement signed this afternoon will ensure the three-year-old magazine will continue to be printed in Malta as the company pushes the envelope by merging traditional print with technological innovation.

The magazine, distributed monthly to all households, will from next month come with QR coding - referred to as smartbuy - that will enable readers to access more information on the advertised products online with the possibility of buying it.

Readers will be able to use their smart phones to scan a code on the magazine that will take them to a webpage dedicated to the product.

Marlor Caruana, managing director of Hotspot magazine, said the smartbuy concept will give advertisers a 24-hour selling platform. His business partner, Kenneth Pullicino, strategy director, said the concept was a natural step forward for the company as it embraced new technology.

The service agreement with Progress Press and Maltapost is the largest commitment in volume for the two entities.

Overseeing the signing of the agreement, Parliamentary Secretary for competitiveness Edward Zammit Lewis said Hotspot's initiative showed that they viewed technology as an opportunity rather than a threat.

He said this was similar to the Government's vision of encouraging businesses to use technology as a tool to remain competitive.