Getting a Grip on the Net

When it comes to online tyre sales, Delticom claims the position of European market leader, with 47 business to consumer (B2C) online shops in 21 countries. Alongside its core tyre business, Delticom is expanding its range of car products to include spare parts, roof racks, garages, motor oil and batteries for both private and business customers.

Delticom’s recent financial results reflect the company’s confidence. In the first-half of 2005 Delticom increased turnover to 56 million euros, compared wit 34 million euros in the same period the previous year. This 65 per cent increase means the company expects its full-year sales to total some 110 million euros.

The majority of the company’s turnover (46 million euros) is made through B2C sales. On the whole this part of the company’s business has grown 77 per cent. Development in the business-to-business (B2B) side of things has been a little slower, although sales of 10 million (up 25 per cent compared with last year) is not exactly slow. The company singled out Switzerland, Sweden and Austria as being its fastest growing markets.

According to Delticom, “the (open) secret of the company’s success is an outstanding price-performance ratio. Customer comparisons in European online retailers show that prices are 20 to 25 per cent cheaper at Delticom.” When ordering, customers can enter the destination of one of around 6000 service partners in Europe. Such a wide coverage of service centres must prove a very useful tool in Delticom’s sales arsenal. According to the company, 2980 of Delticom’s 6008 European fitting partners can be found in Germany, with a further 604 in the UK and 422 and 344 in Switzerland and France respectively. “The all-round hassle-free package includes very low prices, simple ordering, informed advice, tyre test results and a 30 day returns policy,” the company says.

In addition to its sharp growth, the Hanover-based company claims it is one company that has conquered the automotive wing of Internet giant, eBay, or the German part of this site at least. Here, the company, represented by www.reifendirekt.de, is the largest provider of tyres, and also one of the most successful ‘power-sellers.’

Another spoke in Delticom’s wheel of success is its strategic acquisition of important domain names. For example Delticom-owned web addresses include: mytyres.co.uk, tyretests.com, and tyregarages.com and that just in English. By getting hold of these obviously logical domain names, the company can market numerous different sites as independent sources of information, while they all remain under the Delticom banner.

This is how Andreas Prüfer, director of Delticom, explains the company’s success: “We offer our customers decisive advantages when they buy tyres and other products. Ease of ordering, which even a child could do, comfortable payments at highly competitive conditions, and easy modes of payment – these are things that more and more customers all over Europe are beginning to appreciate.”