There are problems with personalisation on websites.  One big problem is what products are filtered for some users.  A user may be interested in motorsport and formula one racing for example, but when he/she logs onto their HMV account it recommends a DVD on horse racing.  Another example would be the customer’s interest in computer games.  Some filters may recommend games that the user has no interest in.

Personalisation has become a feature that is found in almost every e-business website.  I believe that to be a successful online business, you must have personalisation.  I believe it attracts visitors back to a website time and time again and I also believe it has an impact on what products a user buys from a particular website. Good implementation of personalisation on a website could have a big impact on the number of potential customers a business could have.

• Word Tracker
• Key Word Discovery
• Yahoo Overture

When searching for key words, I found that the Google AdWords tool was the most useful.  This showed me the keywords related to my website, the local search volume and the advertiser competition.  From using this tool, I found to my surprise that the key words ‘motorcycle parts’ was searched for frequently through Google and is highly relevant to my website.

I also found that ‘motorcycle accessories’ was searched for frequently and would be a good key word to include but it did have a high competition rate.

From using the Google SkTool I found that ‘Motorcycle Jackets’ had good relevance to my website, was frequently searched for and didn’t have as high competition rate as other keywords.  I could also establish that the brand ‘Autoglym’ is frequently searched for brand in the U.K and would be a good key word to include for my website.  It didn’t have much competition which is also an advantage.

When using the Google insights tool, I have added possible keywords I am going to use to best describe the website.  From using this tool, I can compare the results for each search and decide which key words would be best to include.  These results are show in the table below.

From using these tools to search for and compare key words, I believe that the following list would be the best key words to describe the website www.demon-tweeks.co.uk.

• Car Parts
• Motorcycle Parts
• Motorsport
• Racing Parts
• Motorcycle Accessories
• Car Modification
• Motorcycle Jackets
• Coilovers
• Autoglym
• Motorcycle Clothing
• Performance Exhausts
• Motorcycle Luggage

I also searched for brands of products the company sell in the shop.  The first I searched for was K and N air filters.  Once again I found when using the msn search engine, rival companies such as www.larkspeed.com where much higher on the list than Demon-Tweeks.  When using the Google search engine, I was surprised to find that the company was not featured in the top 50 web pages and that more rivals were coming ahead of Demon-Tweeks.  Although this may not be Demon-Tweeks best selling products, this is the most popular Air Filter manufacturer on the market and one of the most popular first modifications.  This again could potentially be losing Demon-Tweeks business and larger profits.

The ‘paid for’ results when searching on Google are not really competitors of Demon-Tweeks, however on the MSN search page, there is 4 potential rivals advertising on each page.  This could again have an impact on Demon-Tweeks business.  My advice to the Demon-Tweeks team would be to promote the website more so that their name is among the top 10 every time a product related to the company is searched for on major search engine.  Advertisements on major search engines such as Google could be a good move for the company.  This would guarantee that there name is always at the top of a search page when a product related to their company is searched for.

Virtual cloud computing is when a user can access web applications or services via a third party who will share their resources with the user.  An example of this would be Amazon EC2.  This application would mainly be used by businesses or organisations.  The application provides the user with all resources needed to save software, libraries and data on their server.  A server can be created within minutes, allowing them to quickly scale capacity, both up and down, as their requirements change.  This means that the company/organisation do not have to build their own network saving time and money.  This application also gives the user the same privileges they would have in a normal network.

Software cloud computing is when an application is hosted on the internet for businesses and organisations to use.  These can be designed and developed for some companies particular needs.  An example of this would be Google Apps.  Google have created applications for business use, school use and personal use.  In order to use an application, a user must create an account.  Once registered, he/she can then use all applications offered by Google.  This means the user will not have to download software in order to use the applications.  Another example of this is MSN Hotmail. The same steps are taken to create an account.  Once registered, the user can use MSN application to send and receive e-mails.  All e-mails will then be saved on the MSN web server.

Network storage is when a user can back-up their data using an internet provider. This allows the user to save files on an internet server as back-up.  The advantages to this service are that a user will not have to use CD’s, external hard drives, etc.  This will help save space and time.  Another advantage is that a user can log on to any PC and to access their files.  Businesses can also use this form of cloud computing to back-up particular documents they wish to store.

One advantage of cloud computing is that service providers are responsible for installing and maintaining applications used within the cloud.  This is preferred by some but a disadvantage of this is that a customer does not have direct control over the system and are highly dependant on the provider.  Cloud computing systems are often designed to only charge the customer for what resources they use.  This will be preferred by some as it can and often saves money from the conventional network system although other customers prefer a flat rate to help predict annual costs.  One disadvantage to cloud computing us that information and data is sent over the internet and stored on a third parties server.  This risks the privacy of particular material and they are reliant on the provider not to leek and information.

The company use a pull approach in their supply chain management.  This method is market-research driven in order to enhance the quality of the service to the customer and also to enhance the quality of the product to the customer.  This helps increase customer satisfaction with the product and the service provided.

The characteristics of Demon-Tweeks supply chain management are very similar to a virtual integration chain.  Demon-Tweeks deal with their suppliers daily and therefore have built a close relationship with their suppliers.  The company also deal with third parties when buying specialised products.  It is also important that also have a good relationship with them in order to keep the price of products as low as possible.

A value network is important to Demon-Tweeks.  Value networks are in place in order to create good communication between the supplier and companies.  Demon-Tweeks could face some problems if its communications between the company and the supplier was poor.  The price Demon-Tweeks sell a product at is often determined by what price the supplier can provide the product.  If communication was poor, prices could be raised and could impact on Demon-Tweeks potential profits.

An example of efficiencies in Demon-Tweeks supply chain is the purchasing of products from the supplier before they have been purchased by a customer.  Products are purchased from the supplier and are stored in the Demon-Tweeks warehouse until there are effectively sold.  This helps improve the speed a product can be dispatched to the customer.  It can also impact on the customers decision to buy a product if they see that it is in stock and can have it at their doorstep the next day.

There is always a threat of new competitors entering the car modification market.  To avoid the erosion of the market share, this must be closely monitored by companies currently in the market.  However, entrance of new firms to the market will face high barriers before entry.  For example, Demon-Tweeks will have a huge budget to spend on advertising in the market.  They will also have a high number of suppliers as they are very well established.  A new company will not have the budget to advertise on the same scale as Demon-Tweeks therefore making it hard for the company to be recognised and will not have the same number of suppliers because they are new to the market.

The intensity of competitive rivalry could impact Demon-Tweeks in many ways.  Many companies that deal with car modification products are now creating websites as they have seen how successful Demon-Tweeks and POTN have been.  This has led to a large industry growth.  This could lead to the company having to reduce prices to compete within the market as well as compete when marketing their products.  If the company lose any customers to their rivals, they could also face a rise in the cost per unit of products being bought, therefore could face profit margins decreasing or having to raise the price of a particular item.

The bargaining of the companies customers doesn’t have much on an impact on Demon-Tweeks.  Customers can put some pressure on the business if they see a product cheaper elsewhere, but quite often prices are almost similar in the market.  Demon-Tweeks should have a team in place to deal with price comparison.  But as a customer, Demon-Tweeks can put its suppliers under pressure.  An example of this would be if the company buy particular products in high volume from one supplier, see these products cheaper elsewhere, pressure can then be put on the supplier to reduce the price of the items.

Another impact that could have an impact on Demon-Tweeks is the ‘Bargaining power of suppliers’.  The suppliers of products to the company can have a degree of power.  For example, if a supplier knows that they are the only company who supply a unique product to Demon-Tweeks, they have the power to charge excessively high prices for that particular item.  This will only be the case with suppliers who supply unique products.

The terms and conditions for returning goods to Demon-Tweeks are very similar to other companies who sell items via the internet.  They state that a customer must inform the company if they are going to return the goods bought via the website within 7 days.  After this, they have 28days to return the product to the company.  The product bought form the company must have seals and enclosures still intact and must not have been installed before returning the product.  A customer cannot return an item that is seen as a specialised item.  If all these terms and conditions have been met, the consumer will receive the amount of credit equal to the product.  Demon-Tweeks competitors, www.potn.com terms and conditions are almost identical to those at www.demon-tweeks.co.uk therefore it cannot be said that one company’s terms are better than the other.

When registering with www.demon-tweeks.co.uk, the company carry out extensive steps to insure that the information given to them cannot be intercepted or viewed by any unauthorised party.  Policies are also provided to the user telling them how information is stored and how it is used.  This can be found on the on the private policy statement on the website.  Encryption is used to store details on registered customers.  It transforms the information saved so that it is unreadable to unauthorised users therefore helps protect storage and back-up files belonging.

A cookie is a small text file saved on a user’s computer when searching on a web browser.  A cookie contains information such as user preferences on a particular website.  Cookies are used on the Demon-Tweeks website to identify a user, track when the user uses the website and will also contain information on the users shopping cart.

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/demon-tweeks.co.uk/

Its ranking in the most viewed websites studied by www.compete.com in August 09 was 890,948 but in the previous year it had ranked 364,935.  The total number of websites compared on the website is almost 3,000,000.  Considering the demand for the products supplied by demon-tweeks is quite limited, this is a considerably high ranking.  One of Demon-Tweeks competitors would be www.potn.com, a company that also specialise in motor sport and modification products.  Unfortunately, I could not find any figures for this website so I could not compare the two. 

If a customer would like to buy an item from the Demon-Tweeks website, there are a number of processes that have to be taken.  The customer can search for a product by going through different categories or can use the search bar found on the sitemap.  The customer must then select a product to be purchased.  This will automatically add the item to the basket.  All items added to the basket must be checked so that they are correct and then the buyer can proceed to checkout.  The customer will then have to register an account with Demon Tweeks which will contain username, password, name, address and contact telephone number.  After the customer has successfully registered, they will then be asked for their payment details.  These will then be checked and if they are correct, the item will be dispatched from the Demon-Tweeks warehouse. 

One channel that could have an impact on Demon Tweeks is mobile device access.  This could lead to more opportunities for the company.  It isn’t possible for the company to  attend every race weekend on the calendar throughout mainland UK.  Therefore access to the internet from the race course could mean that  teams would potentially order products as they were needed.  Products could then be delivered by the company as soon as the order is recieved.  Orders using this form could be dealt with in the same form as internet orders.

The website has 3 different categories, motorsport, modifying and motorcycling.  A user can select a category and view different products that Demon-Tweeks have in stock.  Products can then selected and placed in a basket where the order can be processed.  The user can then proceed to checkout and purchase the products.  It is laid out in a simple but effective way making it very user friendly. 

The company currently employ 130 people and in 2007, the turnover for the company was £20.5 million.  The business sells products in 3 different ways.  The business has a showroom currently based in Wrexham, Wales.  This was the form the company originally starting selling products and has sold products from their showroom since 1973.  Their main form of selling products is done using the internet.  The website, www.demon-tweeks.co.uk, is heavily advertised in car magazines and motorcycle magazines and often gives out free catalogues to promote the products that Demon Tweeks have available.  Due to the biggest majority of orders the business receives being through the internet, next day delivery to mainland Britain is offered for free.   The company also attend race meetings and car shows where they would set up a stand to sell their products.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=8

When carrying out the survey, the Office for National Statistics also wanted to find out how these households were connected to the internet.  This would be either a dial-up or broadband connection.  In 2006, 10.12 million households were connected to the internet using broadband.  This meant that 70% of all connections to the internet were broadband and only 30% were dial-up connections.  In 2007%, over half the UK’s households were connected to the internet via broadband and 84% of all household connections were broadband connections.  In 2008, this rose again by another 2% meaning that 14.16 million households in the UK were connected to the internet via broadband. 

 
From these statistics we learn that the number of households in the UK without an internet connection has fallen significantly in two years and that the number of broadband users across the UK is increasing on average by 1million each year.  This will make the broadband market very competitive in the next few years with companies looking to grow throughout the UK and also upgrade their connections so they are always one step ahead of their rivals.  It also shows us that the market for dial up has decreased significantly and could soon be non-existent.