consumption and tracking | Tracking tags are taking off:

(The newspaper online): We are at the beginning of July, and summer holidays have begun for many. Many Norwegians go on holiday abroad despite the fact that the euro is more than NOK 11.6 and luggage chaos has been declared at airports in Europe.

But it might seem that the Norwegians had the latter in mind. Electronics chains Power and Elkjøp are seeing a huge demand for tracking chips these days.

Airtags, or tracking tags, allow you to track the location of your item.

– a trend that started last year

Among other things, it is common to have it in your bag if you are going to travel.

– Track tags are very popular with us, a trend that started last year and has only continued. We sell more than twice as many compared to the same period last year, says sales manager Stian Hoff at Elkjøp Norge to Nettavisen.

Apple’s Airtags are the most popular product, Elkjøp reports.

– We’ve also received several traceability products that our customers are beginning to notice, such as Chipolo. This card looks like a bank card and fits nicely in a wallet, Hoff says, or on the card holder that many people now have with their phones.

They also note progress in a strength competitor.

– In recent weeks, sales have picked up speed again, an increase of 60 percent compared to the first months of the year, and almost 90 percent compared to last year, says Bauer product manager Zakirjan Olatinov to MyLørenskog.

He thinks tracking chips can make the holiday easier.

– If you have a tool that can help track the location of luggage, it can give you peace of mind if it goes missing, he tells the newspaper.

Consequences signs

At the end of June, Tryg Forsikring came out and warned Norwegian consumers of baggage chaos at many airports in Europe. The reason is staffing problems at airports.

Fewer hands to handle baggage means more time for travelers to check-in or retrieve baggage at airports. In addition to the increase in delayed baggage, we’ve seen a nearly 45 percent increase so far this year in flight delays, so we’re already feeling the consequences quite well, Torbjørn Brandeggen at Tryg said in a press release.