During the pandemic, there were still delays in deliveries of goods. Despite the fact that Norway is back to a normal everyday life, companies still experience delays to certain goods. Kristin Høyesveen, sales manager for skis and bicycles in XXL Norway, says that XXL generally experiences good accessibility on children’s and adult bicycles. – Of course, like the rest of the industry, there are some holes, and often on bicycles over 10,000 kroner, which often have some parts of higher quality, then especially electric bike engine and electric bike battery, says Høyesveen. Høyesveen says you will experience that you may not get exactly the bike you wanted, but that they usually always want an alternative. XXL experienced great demand for bicycles last year, and it will continue this year, says Høyesveen. Both bicycles for children and adults are popular, and also the more expensive categories such as road bikes and electric bikes. – How long is the waiting time at most, for some products? – It varies from part to part, or bike to bike, but first and foremost we experienced a cycling crisis last year. We already see this year that it is on the rise. Last year, we experienced that there might be up to a year of waiting time, for some products, says Høyesveen. Høyesveen says the delivery time changes all the way, and there are still delays. – But we definitely see that it is on the road to improvement, says Høyesveen. Kristin Høyesveen, sales manager for skis and bicycles in XXL Norway, says delays are still happening, but that they definitely see that it is on the road to improvement. Photo: Maria Jostad / Maria Jostad Høyesveen explains that it is difficult to get hold of certain bicycles with the after-effects of the pandemic, with longer delivery times and a halt in the production of bicycles. – At the same time, we see that there is high demand, says Høyesveen. Place order this year – will be delivered in 2024 Bendik Been general manager of the Bicycle Store says they still feel the delivery problems. – A good part of the backorders, which were accumulated during the pandemic, are now being delivered. Some goods are still difficult to obtain, but there are many more goods in stores now than there were at the same time last year, says Been. – Which goods are still difficult to find? – It may be a bit random, but some electric bike batteries, which are needed to complete electric bikes, can be difficult to obtain. Some components for some special bikes can be difficult to obtain, but most wearing parts have become easier to obtain than they were in 2020 and 2021, says Been. How long it can take to find these products is difficult to say, because delivery times change all the time, says Been – But as an example, we placed some parts for trail bikes on order for this year, but we will have them delivered in 2024. For other things, it can only be a matter of a few weeks or months, Been says. Bendik Been, general manager of the Bicycle Store, says that some items are still difficult to obtain, but that there are many more items in the store now than there were at the same time last year. Photo: Mads O. Oftshus / Mads O. Oftshus Been advises customers who need a specific bicycle or a special type of equipment to plan their purchase. – If you are going to have a special type of racing bike, then you should plan it already this autumn, if you are going to be sure to have it next year, Been says. Norway Post also notices this trend in goods delivery. Matilda Adelborg at Posten’s press department writes in an SMS to news that if you are going to buy a regular product, such as a regular fridge or a best-selling computer, you can get your goods fairly quickly. – What we see can take a little longer are special orders. The most luxurious version of a hob or a specific component, this type of case can have longer delivery times, writes Adelborg. From umbrella drinks, to new plating at the cabin Øystein Dørum, chief economist at NHO, explains the delays with three reasons. The main reason for the delays is still the pandemic. During the pandemic, demand turned from services to goods, because many services were not allowed to be used during the closures and restrictions, Dørum explains. – That is, from umbrella drinks in the South, to new plating on the cabin, to put it bluntly a bit, says Dørum. Dørum says that the production side of the economy handled the new demand quite well through 2020, but over the last year there were increasing problems with capacity. Such capacity problems are often called bottleneck problems, ie too much demand and a little too little production. – This meant that prices began to rise, because when there is a shortage of something, there are increased prices, which helps to create a balance between the desired demand and possible supply, says Dørum. There was not only a shortage of some individual goods, Dørum explains, but also raw materials, transport capacity, energy and people to do the various jobs. – We believe that some of these pressure problems will subside over time, and we believe this is partly due to the fact that there will be lower economic growth in the future, says Øystein Dørum, chief economist at NHO. Photo: Berit Roald The other reason for the delivery problem is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions that followed in the wake of it, says Dørum. This affected the supply of goods from Russia, but to some extent also goods from Ukraine. – It exacerbated the scarcity problems and the pressure problems, says Dørum. The third explanation for the delays is that the pandemic continues to lead to closed cities, factories and transport, for shorter or longer periods, including in China. – Which is the world’s most important production site for consumer goods, says Dørum. I think it will decrease Dørum says we do not know exactly how this will be in the future. – But it is said that the best medicine against high inflation is high inflation, because high inflation means that people get worse advice, and then they will buy less, says Dørum. This means that you will in any case buy less of what has become more expensive, Dørum explains. High price growth also works in the direction of giving a signal to companies that they must produce more. One of the problems has been the lack of containers for use in transport. Never before have so many containers been produced as now. – We believe that some of these pressure problems will subside over time, and we believe this is partly due to the fact that there will be lower economic growth in the future than there has been in the past, says Dørum. That consumption moved from services to goods during the pandemic will turn around when the pandemic has come a long way, says Dørum. – And people again can go to the South and spend their money on umbrella drinks, and not to renovate houses or cottages, for example, says Dørum.
ttn-69
Bicycle shops are still experiencing delivery problems – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
