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Week 10

Personalisation



Q15

I am for personalisation as i feel that making a website/area of a website more personal to you as an individual is very important plus it may also enhance your visit to the various sites and possibly even open up a new host of websites for you to look at.

This is all completed through many companies offering services for web recommendation once this happens all of the information becomes suited to you therefore making all of this information personalised.





Although I have shown one example of personalisation it takes place un-noticed on many websites such as www.asos.co.uk, www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk, www.play.com and www.hottopic.com along with many others.

Personalisation includes the use of cookies, collaborative filtering, user profiling and data analysis by the companies.

Below I have shown another example of www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk and how they use customer information to make your shopping experience more personal. You can usually find this information under the heading “recommended for you”.

This method of online browsing has also even ventured as far as www.gocompare.com which is for car insurance therefore personalisation is being brought into most aspects of the internet.




A lot of people may have issues with personalisation as they may feel that their information will not be kept secure, although when you register/sign up for a site you are asked would you like your details to be kept private or shared with third parties.

Overall I feel personalisation is one of the best things that could happen to the internet as a whole and hopefully more people will also come to this conclusion.


week 9

Ticketmaster Customer Relationship



Q14

I found that looking for keywords based on Ticketmaster was quite awkward as most results that appeared where based on music events that were currently happening therefore people where visiting these areas within the site most often, I mainly used Google Insights search tool as this seemed to be one of the only sites that gave back a less number of current happening events, Therefore allowing me to obtain twelve reasonable words that could be used to search for Ticketmaster.

Below I have shown a screen print of looking for various words such as gigs of which Google Insights have shown me how many people use these words to search for Ticketmaster.





I have shown here also how many of my searches only brought back information based upon the band 3 doors down, this was where I felt that my main problem lay as when I was requesting top searches a lot of various band names where appearing, therefore proving that a lot of people use Ticketmaster specifically for music events as they were looking up bands. Although this made my task slightly more difficult as I needed specific searches instead of certain band names which change quite frequently depending on when the bands where visiting certain areas. Therefore these searches where not to helpful, and I had to look deeper into the information to try and find out the twelve words.




Here i have shown using Ticketmaster for the main search although i didnt recieve any useful search words back



Here I have shown a screen print for the search ‘tickets’



Another one for ‘Music’

My final twelve words have come back as:

1. Tickets

2. Music

3. Events

4. Gig

5. Sports Tickets

6. Music Tickets

7. Theatre

8. Band

9. Booking

10. Venues

11. Theatre tickets

12. Tour


Week 8

Ticketmaster E-Commerce



Q13

While using Google to search for ‘Ticketmaster’ I used the name of the company Ticketmaster when I used the companies name it was the first website to appear on the list, although by using select keywords it has proven to be very difficult and awkward.

The first search I completed was for ‘Events’ in which case Ticketmaster didn’t appear although I was recommended other websites such as whatsonwhen.com and thisislondon.co.uk therefore once I received these I results I decided that I needed to make my search more specific and this time I decided to look up the keyword ‘Tickets’ and Ticketmaster was the first result returned.

Ticketmaster being shown as the first result and pay to appear websites displayed in yellow

Other websites Google recommended for me with this search included Seatwave.com, seetickets.com and ticketline.com

Most of Ticketmaster’s competitors are shown within the pay to appear section; this is shown on Google and is displayed down the right hand side of the page/screen, unlike the other main websites Google returns which are free to upload, where as the pay to appear websites must pay extra money in order to appear under specific searches.

I also received suggestions at the bottom of the page asking me to be more precise with my search therefore allowing Google to return more specific websites to suit my needs therefore I would need to pick one of the following football tickets, concert tickets, sports tickets or comedy tickets.

Searches displayed at the bottom of the page

Some competitors that are displayed in the pay to appear section are seatwave, trusted tickets, double 8 tickets and Glasgow gumtree. In this case they are highlighted therefore trying to attract your attention away from the larger websites such as Ticketmaster and hoping you will purchase your tickets off their site.

I found that allocating Ticketmaster as a provider was relatively easy as long as you made your search specific. People would rather visit a well known site than a less known one especially when handing over very personal details and as Ticketmaster is a known ticket provider worldwide a lot of people would not be prepared to use another company therefore as long as Ticketmaster is easily found people will continue to use their service.

Week 7

Cloud Computing



Q12

What is meant by the term “Cloud Computing”

Cloud computing is internet based through ‘Cloud Development’ and use of computer technology. Typical cloud computing services provide common business application online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on various servers.

cloudfixd

Explain the impact “Cloud Computing” might have in E-Commerce

The impact cloud computing might have in e-commerce is a good one in my opinion as businesses would benefit through this method of operation.

Cloud computing customers generally do not own the physical infrastructure, instead avoiding this expense by renting usage from another provider meaning they only have to pay for the resources they are using. This means that the various companies are being very cost effective and centred on their own personal peak usage therefore saving the larger companies a substantial amount of money.

Whereas in a traditional IT model the company would have to invest in a variety of products to handle their peak activity, which may then be left idle for most of the year causing the company to spend money that is not necessary, Whereas within the cloud computing industry when your business is idle you don’t have to pay any money to the service provider.

Another benefit to this method of computing is that many providers are beginning to offer the service for a flat monthly fee rather than on a utility basis, this also allows users to terminate the contract at anytime.

The only down fall I would say that cloud computing has would be in situations where companies have more flexibility in their capital budge rather than their operating budget which may not make great financial sense.

Otherwise I believe that cloud computing is the way forwards for e-commerce in the near future.



Websites I used for basic information

Week 6

Ticketmaster Supply Chain Management
Q11

Ticketmaster is a shop where tickets can be bought and is strictly an online company where customers can only purchase tickets via the internet. There are a few benefits to this method of sale as its faster, more accurate and less expensive allowing the customer to check their details and purchases before confirming their order.

Push Vs Pull appears within Ticketmaster’s business as it optimizes the production process for cost and efficiency, Though push enables the supplier in this case the band/team etc to allow Ticketmaster to sell their tickets which then moves onto the manufacturer where the tickets are made print ready for the distributor to send them onto Ticketmaster who could be classified as the retailer therefore allowing them to finally be sent onto the customer. This is the longer method of supplying tickets through ‘Push’ therefore this company works through ‘Pull’ as it is a better strategic decision for Ticketmaster.



Pull



They both follow similar suit but instead you are pulling from the customer this means that the customer applies for the tickets and this information goes onto the distributer where it makes its way to the manufacturer and finally the supplier. This will then enhance the product and the service quality therefore ‘Pull ‘is more suited towards Ticketmaster as a business as it has a shorter cycle and less of a response time which shows low inventory levels.

As this company is web based they are relying on ‘Pull’ operations, therefore through this method Ticketmaster could find it quite awkward for selling purposes although this would mainly be seen when Ticketmaster have to meet various deadlines, i.e. through orders being placed and distribution of the tickets proving to be difficult due to mail strikes etc therefore they replaced this method of distribution and now you are able to print off your own tickets making the process a lot quicker and cutting out a lot of the middle people.

Ticketmaster E-Business Strategy

Ticketmaster E-Business Strategy

Q10

The threat of Substitute products

Many companies sell products in the same way for example over the internet, via phone or through catalogues as Ticketmaster can only be used via the internet this makes it slightly more unique although against other ticket providers it must be able to stand out therefore Ticketmaster’s standout quality would be the lower prices and more of a range of varied tickets than its main competitor Livenation.com.

The threat of the new entry of new competitors

More customers are choosing to purchase products online although Ticketmaster shall not lose out on any of their business even though tickets can be purchased from box offices and through other websites, Ticketmaster is used worldwide and would be the largest ticket provider therefore making it standout against any other ticket provider new or current.

The intensity of competitive rivalry
Ticketmaster would only be in competition with companies such as Live nation, Ticket city and Tickets.com although Ticketmaster offers the best deal as they provide tickets through the world whereas these other companies focus mainly on selling tickets within America therefore dropping more of Ticketmaster’s competitive rivalry, This mainly occurs if customers use Ticketmaster in the UK etc they are more likely to use the same provider if they are planning to view a concert in another country.

The bargaining power of customers

Anyone who enjoys going to events will find this website very user friendly and very simple to use, as all the different events within this website are separated e.g. Music, Sports etc therefore making tickets easier to be found, You can also set the region of which you live in making the search smaller and more detailed to suit your own needs. Also if you are a member of Ticketmaster promotional offers are sent out to you via email which once clicked on takes you back to Ticketmaster’s site and onto the tickets of which they believe you would be interested in purchasing, These are based on your interests and due to cookies Ticketmaster knows which events you have previously purchased or click on.

The bargaining power of suppliers

Ticketmaster receives the right to sell tickets to different events through management of the event although some specific bands give only Ticketmaster the permission to sell tickets for their events meaning they are not available anywhere else, therefore it depends very much so on the events management as to how many tickets for each event Ticketmaster are allowed to sell.

Week 4

Ticketmaster

Q7

I believe that the terms and conditions for Ticketmaster are reasonable and I have not found any of these to be outstanding, all the terms and conditions are stated clearly and if they are not adhered to Ticketmaster can cancel your account or cancel your tickets without notice.

I found that Ticketmaster have a very bad policy on refunding tickets as they are unavailable under any circumstance whether it has been lost, stolen, damaged, destroyed etc therefore I felt that as a customer you wouldn’t receive much support if any problems occurred prior to your event.

Although I felt that their competition provided a lot more customer support as refunds are given by www.livenation.com and www.ticketcity.com when events are cancelled or postponed, Therefore I felt that Ticketmaster have let themselves down as this is a very appealing factor for potential buyers.

Q8

Definition: The process of encoding a message so that it can be read only by the sender and intended recipient.

Yes, Ticketmaster uses data encryption as this allows them to protect customer’s credit card numbers and personal information from hackers or competitors, when data encryption takes place the information becomes scrambled and only specific people will know how to unscramble it therefore making your personal information a lot safer. Though the use of data encryption this also allows you to create members and as all information is protected it can be saved within the computer therefore once you become a member on Ticketmaster a padlock appears at the bottom of the screen once you are logged into your own account.

Q9

Yes, Ticketmaster does use cookies within their website as cookies are used mainly to enable the website to remember specific information such as personal details, banking information and items in your shopping basket, this all depends on if you choose to store your details within the website, If the choice is made to create an account all of your information becomes stored therefore allowing you to shop much quicker on Ticketmaster’s website. Once you have entered your username and password it opens your account where due to previous event tickets you have purchased a suggested selection of events appear on your screen, and once you have made the selection of the next event you would like to view and decide to buy tickets for it your banking details will come up as an option of which you can select which card you would like to use for your transaction.

With cookies being used this means that you can store many event tickets that you would be interested in viewing therefore cookies are used quite widely in Ticketmaster to add to your overall shopping experience.

www.ticketmaster.com
www.livenation.com
www.ticketcity.com
www.wikipedia.org
www.cookiecentral.com

Week 3

Ticketmaster



Q 4
Ticketmasters main competitors within the ticket industry would be Livenation, Ticketcity and Tickets.com as they all provide tickets to the same regions within the USA, although www.ticketmaster.com is still the leading ticket service provider with approximately 1,935,167 page views per day closely followed by www.livenation.com which has around 1,88,533, followed by www.tickets.com with 48,248 and then coming in last is www.ticketcity.com with 11,727.

In 2008 Livenation had a larger turnover over in sales producing $4,166.8 million where as Ticketmaster produced $1,454.5 million which was a $2,712.3 loss for Ticketmaster although they also made a larger profit compared to Ticketcity with $32.0 million and Tickets with $9.9 million.

Ticketmaster s percentage of global internet users based on a 3month average was 0.1177% which was around a 7.3% increase as to last month, Where as ticketcitys average was 0.00305% or 29% increase, and livenation had around 0.0328% and a 13.9% increase sadly tickets.com didn’t compare to wel las they took a slight turn for the worse with 0.0135% and -8% decrease compared to last month, which proved to be good news for Ticketmaster.



Q5
- Type web address into browser
- Select tab e.g. Music
- Select category
- Select Artist
- Another page will open with the band’s name and at the bottom of the page select the area and ‘find tickets’
- Page about tickets will open here you must select how many tickets, the amount you would like to spend and the section you would like a seat in you must then click ‘find tickets’
- This is where a security section appears asking you to validate yourself
- A ticket selection shall then appear
- You must then select your method of delivery
- On the next page you have to enter your personal details which can be entered and stored on the system
- A confirmation email should then be sent to your email address informing you of the purchased tickets
- This is where you should find your attachment enabling you to print out your tickets



Q6
Ticketmaster already works by sending their customers emails notifying them of any upcoming events in their area once you have become a member.

Although I believe that if Ticketmaster became available through mobile devices it could have a major impact on the company.

I believe that it would boost sales for the company as a whole and also allow more people who work etc to order tickets and a more convenient time therefore making Ticketmaster stand out against other leading ticket providers, decisions would also need to be made as to whether this step would enhance the company or whether it could cause more problems and issues, although further research could answer some of these problems.



http://www.hoovers.com/


http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/livenation.com


http://www.statbrain.com/www.tickets.com/

Week 2

Ticketmaster



Q1 The website of which I have chosen to complete this work on is www.ticketmaster.co.uk it is a website of which you can purchase tickets for many different events ranging from music artists, theatre and arts, sports, family and attractions. On the website you can view tickets for events up to one year in advance and also see exactly where they are being held within the world. Recently Ticketmaster have also improved their method of producing tickets as you can now print them off yourself causing fewer problems if tickets go missing.


Ticketmaster



Q2 Size of the business: Global
Figures of turnover: N/A
Number of employees: 6,678
Profit of specific recent years:
• 2007 – 10.5 million $
• 2008 – 15.4 million $
• 2009 – 6.9 million $



Q3 The internet is the only place of which my website uses for marketing, therefore I have decided upon finding out how the business itself came about.

- Students
-Precise vendor seats
-1978 solution
-Any seat
-Small business started
-1982 – Chicago – Jay Pritzker purchase
-Fred Rosen as chief executive
-Ticket prices rose due to Rosen
-Promoters get % of proceeds received exclusive rights in exchange
-Long term contracts with several major promoters
-Mid 1980’s posting profits
-Late 1980s deeply entwined in promotion business
-1989 Loan and credit line guarantee to two top promoters
-Top promoters start new operation
-Ticketmaster withheld cash
-Both companies went to court
-Promoters left the concert business
-End of 1980s Ticketmaster was virtually dominant
-Complaint filed to justice department by Pearl Jam
-Paul Allen purchased controlling interest in the company
-Retained Rosen as CEO, new plans for company
-1994 Nearly concord ticket market, set sights on other media related ventures
-1996 Attempt to brighten Ticketmaster’s tarnished image
-1996 Decision to go public
-1997 Filed Suit against Microsoft
-1997 Barry Diller’s plans to buy out Allen’s Stake
-Fred Rosen stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Terry Barnes
-Diller started two Ticketmaster’s
-1997 SFX entertainment guaranteed exclusive ticketing rights for 7 years
-1999 lawsuit over Ticketmaster’s alleged monopoly on ticket distribution
-2000 Tickets purchased online where still mailed to customers testing technology
-End of 2000 Barry Diller bought back a controlling stake in Ticketmaster Online – City search
-Companies would operate as one with Terry Barnes sharing the post
-2000 Ticketmaster went global
-2003 Experimented with auctioning off event tickets
-2005 New unit formed called Ticketmaster Arts – Ticketing and fundraising for arts organisations
-2005 Upheaval in splitting off its travel division
-2005 Stable and profitable $5.7 Billion

http://www.answer.com/topic/ticketmaster

http://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUSNO346942520070503

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS207759+19-Mar-2009+GNW20090319

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSBNG42888920090813

Week 1

Internet Statistics

Internet statistics based on the UK through 2006 – 2008 stated there was a 10% increase in internet usage. In 2006 13.9 million homes or 57% could access the internet which is a 0.6 million or 5% increase over 2005’s figures; Overall in the UK 14.3 million homes had internet access.




Information shows the number of homes that could access the internet in 2006 varied with the highest percentage being the South East which was 66% and the lowest being Scotland with a mere 48%.




Overall 69% of households had a broadband connection, London the highest with 49% Northern Ireland the lowest with 28%.




In 2007 the statistics rose slightly showing the internet was becoming a growing trend within the United Kingdom, 15.23 million or 63% of homes now had internet access which was an increase of 1 million or 7% of all households.




84% of homes had invested in broadband access creating a 10% increase from 2006 which stood at 40%.




A trend was beginning to occur with the highest level of access appearing in the South West and London both with 69% showing that England had the highest usage of internet access and Northern Ireland the lowest with 52%.



Overall London also had 88% of households using broadband and Northern Ireland had 78%.




In 2008 the statistics continued to grow and now 16.46 million UK households use the internet an increase of 65% or 1.23 million homes since 2007.




The figures have also grown with 86% of all homes having a broadband connection, the highest region with access still remained the South East with 74%.




Broadband has increased with 56% of households connecting this way instead of the 51% in 2007 which is a subtle increase.




Hopefully the figures shall increase and grow in 2009



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