Vodafone Italia has launched a promotion to coincide with the availability in the local market of a self-branded advanced luggage tracker. The V-Bag Tracker TrackiSafe device, part of the operator’s “V by Vodafone” series of trackers that connect to its global IoT network, is available at the promotional cost of €59.00 (US $67.19), instead of €79.00 (US $89.96), plus €3.00 (US $3.42) per month for data usage on a bundled SIM that covers over 90 countries. Users can set safe zones and see, via their smartphone, where their bag is at any given time, as well as checking on whether it has been opened.

Tarifica’s Take

Amid the plethora of new offerings for the ever-growing Internet of Things, this little application seems very well designed to solve a common everyday problem. A small IoT-enabled device that mounts on a piece of luggage can very effectively help users to keep track of the bag and thereby deal not only with possible theft but also with the inevitable confusion that often goes along with air travel.

For Vodafone Italia to conceive of this system, name-brand it, and provide a data bundle to operate it is an excellent example of a complete, end-to-end solution that keeps this IoT application entirely in the operator’s ecosystem, strengthens its brand, aids retention and is likely to bring in new customers, as well.

If an operator has developed its own global IoT network, it pays to develop as many devices as possible to work over it, and careful attention to actual customer needs is key. A sizable promotion such as the present one should be highly effective at stimulating sales, and an affordable data package should help in that regard, as well as promoting greater use of the devices once purchased.