List Auction generated savings of more than 24% on garden accessories.

In many organizations, the biggest hurdle to the implementation of a successful eSourcing tool is the internal resistance and skepticism of the sourcing department. One way to remove this hurdle is to showcase your success stories and demonstrate just how easy it is to set up and manage eSourcing events.

Challenge

A large DIY & Construction Materials retailer needed to promote eAuctions internally by showcasing success stories to new buyers. The company decided to run a live eAuction during their annual eSourcing conference and 22 products (garden accessories) were selected for the purpose. 2 suppliers were pre-qualified.

Solution

The event type List Auction was used to have the suppliers compete on the total sum rather than per product line. Even though only 2 suppliers were pre-qualified, the level of competition between the suppliers was very good (less than 1% difference in between start prices).

Result

The event lasted for 38 minutes with a total of 117 bids. The retailer ended up saving 24.8% compared to the current price and the eSourcing program leader received multiple interest calls from buyers regarding new eSourcing projects. To this day, the program volume is steadily increasing.