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Online Tyre Trade Booming

Hanover, 15.05.2003 In the first quarter of the financial year 2003 (ending: 31.12.2003) the online dealer Delticom AG, Hanover earned a total revenue of 9.7 million Euro. This represents an increase of 56 percent compared with the same time period last (Q1 2002: 6.2 million Euro). Internet revenue doubled figures from 2.5 to 5.1 million Euro. "This increase is due to two reasons; our continued efforts to expand to other euroepan countries, as well as the increasing acceptance of internet sales", explained Delticom Managing Director Andreas Prüfer. In the first quarter the tyre dealer launched a further online tyre shop in Belgium - www.123pneus.be. Increasing the number of shops to 20 in 10 European countries. At the beginning of 2002, the company had 13 tyre websites. The number of service partners in Europe increased steadily from 1600 in early 2002 to 2500 at the end of April 2003.

Due to the growing number of service partners as well as the new range of exclusive brands, the B2B revenue increased by 112 percent to 1.2 million Euro. This corresponds with 24 percent of the total Internet business at Delticom. International wholesale increased its revenue by 13 percent and contributed 4.6 million Euro, nearly 50% towards total revenue for the first quarter.

Buying www.reifen.de worth it
Most important step for the company in the first quarter was buying the most relevant address in the German tyre industry, www.reifen.de. Since the most expensive domain deal in Germany's Internet history was announced, the number of accesses increased from three million per month to ten million per month. "The purchase of reifen.de will amortise by next year at the latest", explained Rainer Binder, Managing Director at Delticom.

The second quarter has started with a positive upbeat. In April alone, revenue of five million Euro was earned with summer tyres. In 2003 Delticom expects a total revenue of over 40 million Euro (2002: 34 million Euro).

More than only tyres

In the last two quarters the European market leader in Internet tyre trading extended its product range, that until then included only tyres. In the fourth quarter 2002,engine oil for private customers was added, and in February this year the Hanover-based company added motorbike batteries to its B2C range of products. "The contribution of oil and batteries to the total revenue for e-commerce in the first quarter is still relatively small. But we expect positive growth rates", said Binder.

Positive growth rates in the first quarter were visible above all in the online-shops outside Germany. The foreign share in the total e-commerce revenue rose from 20 percent in the first quarter 2002 to 30 percent in the first three months of the current financial year. Above all, the Internet business in Switzerland and Great Britain offering 20 percent to the total foreign revenue contributed over proportionally to the total revenue.

Currently, the Internet is experiencing another boom. More and more people are online on a regular basis, in Germany more than 50 percent. This is the result of a survey carried out by the research group Wahlen in April 2003. Online shopping is becoming more attactive. In the mean time, 49 percent of all German Internet users buy online. Last year, Germany surpassed Great Britain as the most important European market for Internet trade. "The E-Commerce promises made in the late nineties are now becoming reality", commented Prüfer happily.