– Shops several times a week – E24

Elizabeth Evenby (42) has received up to 60 parcels from Timo in the past six months.

– I mostly buy for 200 to 300 NOK. “Everything is very cheap, but it all adds up quickly,” Evenby tells E24.

It's been about half a year since she shopped at Timo's for the first time. Since then, there have been between 50 and 60 different deliveries from the Chinese online shopping giant.

-I actually just go to look, but then I end up shopping a few times a week.

She says that in addition to clothes, there will be different tools. Examples include cat toys, a metal detector, and an owl scarecrow (which turned out to be disappointingly small).

– They have many smart solutions, but first of all they are much cheaper than in Norway. She says it was not appropriate to buy a metal detector in Norway.

Popular with the elderly

Evenby is not the only one who has been bitten by Timo's bacillus. A recent report from Postnord shows that Norwegians have embraced the company.

Temu is at the top when online shoppers answer which foreign online stores they have shopped at in the past three months. 36 percent say they have used the Chinese online store. Zalando and Ebay are following suit.

According to the report, Timo is most popular among people between the ages of 50 and 79, while Zalando is the first choice among young people.

Haakon Nikolai Olsen, Postnord's press director, says they have never measured this way before, but this may be the first time a Chinese operator has reached the summit in Norway.

– The simple explanation of why Temu and similar actors are so popular is that it has everything you could be looking for. He says this has been the formula for success for Amazon, which has a greater foothold with our Nordic neighbours.

Haakon Nikolai Olsen

– Questionable quality at a very low price

Norwegians generally shop somewhat more online from abroad than in the past, figures from payment company Nets show.

This was true for 31% of respondents in a recent survey. Compared to last year, there is an increase of three percentage points. E-commerce manager Ardalan Vaday points out that it amounts to billions in lost revenue for Norwegian companies.

He sees most shopping as rational, but at the same time he sees a shift towards more “recreational shopping.”

– There are probably many people who bought from Temu just to test. You get an ad on Facebook or Instagram and think it's so cheap that you have nothing to lose.

When you can get shoes and dresses for less than a hundred Danish kroner, with free shipping from China, there's also a reason to stop and ask yourself some questions, Vaday believes.

-We buy goods of questionable quality at a very low price. It is somewhat contradictory that most Norwegians say they want to shop more locally, at the same time that shopping abroad is increasing. In addition, there is the climate perspective, which can also be taken into consideration.

Climate and Environment Minister Andreas Byland Eriksen (AFP) is among those who have come out strongly against Timo.

– He said: Buy clothes from somewhere else My fashion At the end of April.

Data from Cargo Facts Consulting indicates that Chinese e-commerce accounts for a third of long-distance air freight capacity, writes Reuters. This equates to 108 Boeing 777 aircraft per day. Temu represents about 40 of them.

One piece of shower curtain

Elizabeth Evenby says she no longer shops in Norway after she discovered Timo.

– In addition, it does not replace anything. I mostly buy small things that I don't necessarily need Need.

-Do you think how things can be so cheap?

– Not real. But there aren't any complicated things you can buy there.

For the most part, they are quite satisfied with the merchandise they receive. But sometimes there may be deviations, shortcomings or simply disappointing quality.

-I bought a t-shirt and it turned out to be made of the same fabric as the shower curtain. She made some terrible noise and was not very pleasant to walk with.

She says Timo is always quick with the ball.

-I got the money back instantly. The quality is generally good, but you need to read the product description carefully. After that, I make sure to order creams, tablets, and other things that directly touch the body.

Independent sellers

Michael Falk is Temu's Nordic PR Manager. E24 asked him what kind of quality you can expect from Temu, and about the company's climate footprint.

In terms of quality, Falk says Temu is a marketplace where independent sellers enter their products themselves.

Temu screens new sellers and conducts spot tests on products entering Temu's warehouse to ensure that the goods match the description and follow safety standards.

Temu expanded into the European Union last year.

Temu worked closely with vendors “to ensure they met various EU requirements, such as the CE seal,” Falk writes.

Michael Falk

Temu's Nordic PR Manager

– Reduces the risk of overproduction

Regarding Timo's climate footprint, Falk believes that Timo's model is better than that of the traditional clothing industry.

He writes that production and shipping are done there without knowing whether the product can be sold.

At Timo, they operate on a demand-driven model.

– This means that we only ship the product when the consumer places an order, which greatly reduces the risk of overproduction and excess inventory.

In addition, our method of sending directly from producer to consumer eliminates many unnecessary steps in the value chain that usually lead to increased emissions.