Personally, I am for web personalisation..  I am for this because I believe that it gives the user a chance to view a page that is specific to them and includes relevant information to the user.

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2004/papers/bowen/bowen-fig1-inline.gif

Web personalisation is done in 3 stages:

• Input
• Algorithm
• Output

The input is the user viewing or purchasing products or information, the algorithm is done by collaborative filtering and simple data mining to show which products and information should be displayed.  The output is the relevant products and information being shown.

Personalisation works by using collaborative filtering, finding out information about the user and displaying information and products that the webpage believes to be relevant and useful to the user.  A simple example of this is on e-commerce sites Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk) and Play (www.play.com), where products are displayed and recommended to the user.  These results are dependant on what the user has searched or purchased in the past.  I admit that this can also be a downside as the products etc that are displayed are not always relevant to the user.

www.amazon.co.uk

The image above shows products that have been recommended for me by Amazon.  This is shows both good and bad web personalisation as I would be interested in the 1st and 3rd games shown.  It shows bad personalisation as I would not be recommended in purchasing the 2nd game shown.

Another example of bad web personalisation would be when I go to Amazon to buy a product different from my previous purchases, and I am constantly being recommended with irrelevant products.

With the web moving into its next generation, Web 3.0, personalisation is going to be a ever present form of displaying information and data to the user.  Many experts believe that the web will become like a personal assistant to the user.  The browser will do this by learning from the users searches and purchases, allowing the user to be less specific with their searches.

The first tool that I used was Google’s search based keyword tool.  I typed in my website and searched for the keywords.  Top of the list was “football kits” with 12,000 search results.  I found this surprising as ProDirect concentrates more on football boots than football kits.  This had a suggested bid of $0.66 and had a high rate of advertiser competition.  Second on the lost of results was “copa mundial”, a make of football boots, with 6,600 results.  This result had a suggested bid of $0.46 and had a low competition rate.  In second place was “soccer boots” with 5,400 results, suggested bid of $0.37 and the same competition rate as “copa mundial”  The results of the search based keyword tool can be seen below.

http://www.google.co.uk/sktool/#keywords?site=www.prodirectsoccer.com=

The next tool that I used was Google Adwords: Keyword Tool.  I again typed in the name of my website, and searched for results.  Top of the list with this tool was “football boots”, with a local search volume of 74,00, and global search volume of 1,220,000 for October.  The second most popular result was “new football boots”, someway off first with a local search volume of 2,400 and a global volume of 18,100.  The third most popular was “kids football boots” with a local volume of 1,600 and global volume of 18,100.  The results of this search can be seen below.

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

The last tool that I used was Google Insights.  This tool allowed me to search terms and phrases and see which ones created the most interest.  The terms that I searched were:

• football boots
• soccer boots
• kids football boots
• football equipment

Football boots attracts the most interest, followed by football equipment, and then soccer boots.  Kids football boots attracts very little interest.  As the graph below shows, the interest in football boots has deteriorated over time, and shows no major increase for 2010.  The results of this tool are shown below.

http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=football%20boots%2Csoccer%20boots%2Ckids%20football%20boots%2Cfootball%20equipment&cmpt=q

After using these tools, I found that Google search based keyword tool was the most useful and easy to understand.  This tool played a major factor when I was choosing my twelve best results.  These are shown below.

• football boots
• football kits
• soccer boots
• new football boots
• kids football boots
• football equipment
• copa mundial
• football boots sale
• running trainers
• climacool
• mercurial vapours
• total 90 laser

First of all I searched “football boots” in both of the search engines.  The ProDirect website appeared first in both search engines.  In Google, it was the first and second results, with a link directly to the boots page of the website in second place.  In the Bing results, the boot page was third behind www.footy-boots.com.  This website appears to be popular as it is also third on Google.

JJB Sports, who I believe to be one of ProDirect’s largest competitors,was ranked fourth on Google.  I was quite shocked to find that not only did JJB not appear on the first page of  Bing, it did not appear at all on the first 5 pages of the Bing results.

ProDirect does not appear as a sponsored link on any of the search engines.  I think this is because they have realised that as their company and website are widely known and as it appears first on all of the search engines, there is no need to pay for sponsored links.

Littlewoods appears as a sponsored link on both of the search engines.  The website www.kickbacksports.co.uk/football appears as the top sponsored link in both of the search engines.

I then typed in “football equipment” into both of the search engines.  In Google, ProDirect appeared fourth in the list.  In Bing, it appeared at the bottom of the third page.  I think this is because ProDirect do not use as much resources marketing football equipment in general, but concentrate more on the football boots.  Again, ProDirect does not appear as a sponsored link on the search engines.  JJB Sports does not appear in the first page of both search engines.

When searching for “football boots”, I do not have any recommendations for ProDirect as they are first on the list.  However, I do believe that they should increase or change the tags that they are currently using for when the user searches for “football equipment”.  This is because on Google, the ProDirect website does not appear first, and on Bing, it does not appear until the third page.  Most users try another search or stop looking after the second page of results.

The definition of cloud computing differs from supplier to supplier.  According to Dan Kusnetzky (http://blogs.zdnet.com/virtualization/?p=733), the definition that is widely accepted is “the availability of an application,  an application framework or IT infrastructure available for use on the internet on a pay-to-play pricing structure”.

In an organisation, cloud computing works by the business loading one application for all users instead of purchasing multiple applications for each user.  This application allows all of the users to log into a web-based service.  This service would then host all of the programs that the users would need.

This leads to a major advantage for cloud computing, the user’s computer will have no need for large amounts of memory or processing power.  This is because the network of computers and servers that make up the cloud handle the work involved in opening and running applications.  This leaves the user’s machine to run only the clouds interface software, which can be as simple as to open a web browser.

Most of us have used cloud computing before, even though the majority will not realise it.  If you have an email account with Hotmail or Yahoo Mail, you have used cloud computing.  Instead of the user running an email program on their machine, they log into a web email account remotely.  The software and storage needed for this is stored in the service’s computer cloud.

The cloud’s servers are kept in data centres.  These centres are kept cool by air conditioning as the servers generate a lot of heat.  As the air conditioning is harmful to the enviroment, Google has patented the idea of locating their data centres off shore on boats.  They would use the water to keep the data centre cool and for energy.  If this idea is perfected, Google could build a 40 megawatt data centre that doesn’t require real estate or property taxes.

http://ambuj.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/cloudcomputing-2.jpg

The advantages of cloud computing to E-commerce are:

The cost to the user is lowered as there is no need for lots of hardware and software on their machines.  This then leaves the user more money which they could possibly spend on E-commerce websites.  The cost to the business is also less as they do not have to hire IT experts to keep their applications running.

Unlimited storage capacity will allow an E-commerce site to store vast amounts of information on its customers.

This data would also be more secure on the servers.  For example, if a desktop was to crash, the data would not be lost as it is stored on the server.

The data being stored on a server also leads to a major disadvantage for cloud computing.  There will always be the risk that a hacker or virus could infiltrate the servers and steal or erase the data stored on them.  There is also the issue of who can see the data stored on customers, as this may be in breach of the Data Protection Act.

Another major disadvantage of cloud computing, is that the user also requires a constant internet connection to access the applications.  This will prohibit the user from working on the move, unless there is a wi-fi connection set up.

The upstream supply chain is the transactions between an organisation and its suppliers and intermediaries.  This is known as buy-side e-commerce.  The downstream supply chain is the transactions between an organisation and its customers and intermediaries.  This is known as sell-side e-commerce.

The ProDirect website has a push to customer approach to supply chain management.  This is because the customers who are purchasing goods from the website do not have a say in how they are designed before they are manufactured and shipped to ProDirect’s warehouses.  ProDirect has a hint of a pull supply chain as the customer can customise football boots by having their name printed on the boot, this is however only a minor detail of the product and the customer can only choose the colours etc that are available.

I believe that the supply chain of ProDirect can be described as a virtual integration chain.  I believe this because they have a total reliance on linked third parties.  This is because the majority of the chain is undertaken outside of ProDirect.   The main one of these would be they do not manufacture the products.  They also require a close relationship with their suppliers as they frequently purchase goods from them.

I believe that ProDirect’s supply chain is as follows:

1.  Product is manufactured by Adidas, Nike etc.

2. ProDirect then purchase the product from manufactures.

3. ProDirect then store product in their warehouse.

4. Customer purchases the product from the website.

5. Once the customer’s details have been verified, the product is dispatched to the customer.

A value network is extremely important to ProDirect.  This is because if the network between ProDirect and its suppliers breaks down, this would seriously effect the business.  Also if the suppliers decide to raise their prices, ProDirect would in turn also have to raise its prices.

There is also evidence of efficiencies in the supply chain.  An example of this would be that ProDirect purchase the products from suppliers before they have been purchased by the customers.  This therefore speeds up the time between the customer ordering the product and it arriving.  They also use e-mail to contact the user about the product and send them information on new promotions, instead of sending letters.  This is not only cost effective, but the customer can get the information almost instantly.

The five forces and their relative strategic impact are as follows:

1. The threat of substitute products and services

The website’s competitors can easily introduce substitute products which are not available on the ProDirect website.  This could lead to the website falling behind in sales if they are not quick in introducing these on their website.

I believe that ProDirect keep up to date with this as they are constantly introducing new offers on products.  When I searched for “football boots for sale” on Google (www.google.co.uk), it found over 3.5 million results.  This high number of results shows that there is always going to be new services and products introduced by rival websites.

Substitute products are a threat to ProDirect as the products that they sell are not unique to the website, they are also not manufactured by ProDirect.

2. The threat of the entry of new competitors (barriers to entry)

As the barriers to entry are reduced, the ProDirect website is in constant danger of rival websites emerging, including those of small businesses, possibly being run from someone’s house.  This is made possible as running a website does not require a high street presence.  The large number of results found on Google supports this.

However, as ProDirect is a large and established company, there is little threat of small businesses taking a large amount of the market share.  ProDirect’s attention will therefore mainly be directed towards their main competitors.

As ProDirect specialise on football products, they can use all their resources on this, whereas JJB Sports have a varied range of products, they have to split their resources accordingly.

3. The intensity of competitive rivalry

The huge number of results from the search on Google, is a result of the large range of the internet.  As a customer in the UK can now purchase products from the other side of the world, the possibility of losing customers to rivals has risen dramatically. This also works in favour for ProDirect as they can now attract customers from abroad.  With every e-commerce website that is created, it is another site that ProDirect has to beat on prices and services. 

4. The bargaining power of customers/buyers

As customers now have a wider choice than ever before, their bargaining power has risen.  This is because as they have a wider range of businesses to choose from, ProDirect are having to enter into price wars and lower their prices to compete in the market.

5. The bargaining power of suppliers

As suppliers know that ProDirect would not attract customers and generate a large profit if the major brands such as Nike and Adidas were not for sale on the site, they can charge ProDirect more for these products than other products.  They can get away with this as ProDirect will know themselves that they need these brands to generate sales.  ProDirect can not simply change suppliers as all suppliers will know this.

The bargaining power of suppliers is also reduced as there is a wider range of suppliers for ProDirect to choose from.

I did not find anything unusual in the terms and conditions of the website.

As I previously returned an item to ProDirect, I believe that the return’s policy of the website is acceptable, however it is not as good as its main competitor, JJB Sports.  ProDirect’s policy is that the goods can be returned within 14 days for a refund or exchange, provided the goods are not damaged.  The customer has to pay the packaging costs (recorded delivery) when posting the item.  JJB however, allow returns up to 28 days after the item was purchased.  As JJB also has the benefit of stores, the user can return the item free of charge to a store.

ProDirect provides call backs to the customer when orders have been delayed or the release date of pre-ordered items have been changed.  There is also 5 questions and answers to help the customer return goods, along with a return’s page included on the site.

The only way to register an account with the company is to purchase an item.  To register on the website the user must first enter their address, this page is does not appear to be encrypted.  When the user has to enter their personal details such as name, contact numbers and payment details the padlock icon appears in the address bar.  This indicates to the user that the current page is encrypted by a SSL (Secure Socket Layer).  The encryption is 128-bit standard, which protects the data when being sent from their computer to a network.  This would stop hackers obtaining their personal information for themselves or rival companies.

The ProDirect website uses cookies to store information on what the user is viewing on the website.  It is also used to store the contents of the shopping basket.

A cookie is a small piece of text stored on a user’s computer by the web browser.  A cookie contains information such as user preferences and shopping cart contents.  The user can disable the cookies from a website if they wish.

As cookies are used to store the contents of the shopping cart, if the user disables these, the user would not be able to purchase from the website.

The graph above also shows the number of visits that JJB Sports (www.jjbsports.com) had in comparison to Prodirect.  Prodirect soccer has a relatively larger amount of visits than JJB.  This is also brought more in to context when you consider that JJB does not specifically sell football equipment.

The process for purchasing online on my chosen website is as follows:

Step 1 – If the user is familiar with the site, they can type the page URL in to the address bar.  If the user is not familiar with the site, they can find the site through a search engine.  The site appears first in the list on Google (www.google.co.uk).

Step 2 – Once the user has entered the site they then navigate to their desired section.  If the user wishes to purchase football boots, they will then click on the Boot Room.  They will then choose the boots they wish to purchase, the size, if they want to personalize them, and proceed to checkout.

Step 3 – At checkout, the user is required to enter their information, such as Name, address, email address and their card details.  A confirmation email is then sent to the customer’s email address.

Step 4 – When purchasing the item the user has the choice of 1st or 2nd class delivery.  The item is then packaged by the shipping team and given to a courier.  The courier then delivers the item to the customer, which usually requires the customer’s signature or the  customer to be at home, as the parcel is usually to big for the letterbox.

As I have not seen a Prodirect advertisement on the television I believe that this is a great channel for them to pursue.  The potential amount of new customers would be huge for the business.  The strategic choices to be made for this would include how much to spend, and when the advertisements would be aired.

The company is a website only company, the company do not have any shops open.  Website Outlook (www.websiteoutlook.com) has estimated that the website is worth $148,482.

As the company only operate on a website, the number of employees at the business is relatively low.  This would include employees who run the website itself, updating the site when new products become available and making sure there are no problems with the website.  There is also a security team which makes sure that the customers security details are correct.

The business also has to employee workers in the warehouse.  This is where the products are stored.  These employees also have to package the product and send the package to a courier.  The courier then sends the product to the customer.

I was unable to find information on the turnover and profit of the website.

As the business is a website only company, I believe that the creator(s) of the business saw an oppurtunity in the market for the website.  I believe this because there is no other website available which provides such a wide range of football boots and equipment.  Shops such as JJB Sports (www.jjbsports.com) don’t provide as wide a range as this site.

The chart below shows the increase in the amount of Internet usage in the UK, and that each year there is a greater amount of users being connected via a broadmand connection.

In 2006, 58% of the UK  had used the Internet at least once a month, in 2007 this grew to 61% .

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

As the chart above shows, there is a substantial increase in Internet usage between 2007 and 2008.  This increase of Internet usage is down to the increasing number of households who have had broadband connections made available to them.  The increasing ways of buying and selling goods over the Internet has also contributed to the increase, as virtually every business provides the user with ways to purchase over the Internet.

The increasing popularity of social networking sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook have also added to this.  A chart at the website below shows the increasing number of users of these sites.

 http://comscore.com/Press_Events/Comunicados_de_prensa/2007/07/Social_Networking_Goes_Global

My research has shown that in 2008, Wales had the highest percentage of users who have access to the Internet with 67%.  Northern Ireland had the lowest percentage with 56%. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/iahio808.pdf