Internet expansion case study.

Zydeco Records.
A brief history of Zydeco records.
Zydeco Records, Emerged from Mr Robert Johnson's Interest in American roots music.

After experiencing difficulties in acquiring these types of music, Mr Johnson decided to

distribute these himself starting out with a table at record fairs and events, the business
grew steadily to what you see today, Zyde.co.uk and the paper catalogue business.

We take great pride in delivering the best in American roots music direct to you.

Zydeco records website can be accessed at: actinic.hud.ac.uk/u0566469 Mr Johnson uses

the University of Huddersfield for free web hosting.

The problem.
Over the past few weeks Mr Johnson has been looking at other internet based record
retailers – websites that he sees as his competitors. He believes that he needs to make
changes to his website to keep up with his competition. He has also been rather worried
about new websites opening up and stealing some of his custom.

Mr Johnson is also very worried about his suppliers driving up prices – which would mean
that he would have to raise prices to his customers. Mr Johnson has considered several
other ways of purchasing stock. It has also come to light (through customer feedback) that
many customers are weary of passing their card details over to the website as it looks a little
“dodgy”.

Your tasks,

Question 1.

Which of the porters 5 forces are being applied to Zydeco records? (Explain your answer.)

Question 2.
How can Mr Johnson develop Zydeco records, to keep up with his competitors? (Explain
your answer, and give at least four points.)

Question 3.

Zydeco records potential customers may be worried about the site being a scam website or
a site that uses “Phishing” for sensitive information. How can Mr Johnson assure his
customers that his site is genuine?

Question 4.

Think of some ways that Zydeco records could expand online? (At least two suggestions
please.)

Question 5.

How could Mr Johnson use the internet to ensure that he buys his stock at the cheapest
possible price?