TYRES TO BE FILMED

"Selling tyres on the internet seems extraordinary to the people and therefore needs to be explained", comments Andreas Prüfer, a board member of the company and the co-initiator of the clever business idea of the film. "The main aim of the film is to show how easy it is to have tyres delivered from the internet practically to your front door", adds Rainer Binder, also a member of the board and co-founder of Delticom, explaining the basic idea behind the film. The film shows how things work. As well as the information section, there are a further 30 minutes of footage. The Delticom film was produced by Ballentin Video, Wiesbaden.

Very many European and international customers have indeed already come to appreciate the service provided by Delticom AG. The company now operates 40 online shops in 21 countries. The German and the Swiss online shops Reifendirekt recently celebrated their 5th anniversary and can look back on a period of rapid business growth.

In 1999, the year when the company was founded, Delticom already recorded a turnover of one million euro. In the year 2000, this had already risen to seven million euro, an increase of more than 450 percent. Online trade was booming, and Delticom AG established itself at the top. In 2001, the firm achieved a further tripling of turnover to 21 million euro. The idea of online tyre trading was fully established. In 2002, turnover rose once again, this time to 34 million euro. The figure for 2004 was 80 million euro and the plan for 2005 is 100 million euro. At the Delticom headquarters in Hanover, 41 employees ensure smooth customer service and the German head office is supported by a further 180 workers in call centres all over Europe.

"The secret of our success: value for money prices, an unbeatable range of products and excellent availability" is how Andreas Prüfer sums up the economic success.

It is as simple as it sounds, for the customers. They can place their orders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year in their Delticom online shop. A simple click on the internet address opens up for them the whole world of tyres in the dimensions offered by Delticom. Customers can choose from 70 different brands of tyre. In total, Delticom AG offers a range of around 15,000 sorts of tyre. In addition to this, interested customers can call up a detailed tyre test for the tyre in question and thus easily obtain online up-to-date and objective information about any advantages and disadvantages. The online shop is constructed in such a transparent and customer-friendly way that it has been awarded a German vehicle testing certificate and the quality standard "safer shopping". A few clicks are all that are needed to complete the tyre purchase. Payment can be made by bank transfer, credit card or even on account. The order transaction is, of course, completely encrypted. At the end of the ordering process the customer immediately receives an order confirmation and a delivery date by email or fax.

A special service offered by Delticom is free delivery of he tyres to the destination requested by the customer - to the customer's home, to a named garage or to one of Delticom?s more than 5,100 tyre fitting partners across Europe.

As soon as the online order has been received, the tyres requested are ordered off-the-shelf from the manufacturer. A courier then makes the final delivery to the customer. It takes an average of 3 to 5 days for the tyres to arrive at their final destination. It only then remains for specialist fitting of the tyres to form the perfect conclusion to a good piece of business. According to customer feedback, car drivers and motorbike riders can buy their tyres much more cheaply in this way, with savings of about 25% and more.

Delticom, which has been awarded international prizes, is the fastest growing technology company in Germany not to be listed on the stock exchange, according to research carried out by Deloitte for the Fast50 competition in the autumn of 2004.

Delticom AG
Brühlstr. 11
30169 Hanover
Germany