This article is intended for buyers. If you're a supplier, check out our supplier help articles here.
This article will cover:
Watch an overview on eAuctions
How to set up an eAuction
Auctions are part of a defined stage within a request, serving as a digital negotiation method for suppliers to compete online in real-time. You need to complete the following when adding in an Auction stage:
Set the Start date & Time
Define initial Duration
Determine the visibility of the auction stage
✏️ Please Note: The default duration is set at 20 minutes which is the recommended industry best practice amount. You can however override this to a duration you prefer.
Once created, the Auction tab appears, and the workflow includes the set up of awarding principles, bidder agreement, bid feedback, line items, bid rules, and timing rules.
Awarding principles:
Defining principles by which you will decide to award supplier(s) bids (e.g. winner takes all) on the conclusion of the eAuction. This establishes a clear commitment from the beginning keeping your suppliers engaged.
This information will be shared with suppliers participating in the bidding process in advance of accepting your agreement and submitting pre-bids.
Bidder agreement:
A binding agreement between Buyer & Supplier to define the terms that suppliers must agree to in order to participate. If a supplier does not agree to the terms of the bidder agreement they will be unable to participate in the eAuction.
✏️ Please Note: Any bids that suppliers enter by mistake can be withdrawn, however the buyer must notify DeepStream of this error immediately.
Bid feedback:
This section controls what the supplier sees, it is best practice to provide more information to encourage competitiveness between suppliers. Please select one method of feedback.
Line items:
This is what your Suppliers will bid on during the live auction. You can pull through line items which were added in previous stages and can use this to track the price of an item through the entire request. At later stages, this will be used to calculate savings.
To set up the line items:
Click on the Edit button.
Click + Add line item and choose whether to add a New line item or to populate using the Previous line items quoted in the previous stage.
In this edit section you can also choose to change the currency and increase the decimal places if required.
Once all line items are added click Save.
Bid rules:
This is for outlining the rules you would like your suppliers to adhere to.
Minimum reduction:
Controls the pace at which the bids go down, a higher minimum bid reduction makes the price go down faster.
This is a mandatory field, you can choose if your Suppliers reduce their bids by a set % or by a set amount. Suppliers will not be able to reduce their bid by a value lower than the minimum reduction.
✏️ Please Note: It is generally best practice to use % for the minimum reduction because it will scale with the size of the bid.
You can also set Tie bids which enables two suppliers to enter the same price, they will be prioritised in ranking according to who entered the price first.
A Ceiling price is the maximum a supplier can bid, this prevents any suppliers from entering a price above the amount you set.
Timing rules:
This controls and dictates when suppliers can bid, and how the eAuction reacts to bids submitted towards the end of the eAuction.
Auto-extension is designed to prevent any suppliers undercutting each other at the last minute. You can set an extension period of time before the eAuction is to end if there is a new lead bid or any new bid at all within that time frame.
This allows all Suppliers (including the Supplier who was previously the lowest price) to review and respond to, if they wish.
Allowing Pre-bids gives suppliers the option to submit bids before a live auction, so buyers get a gauge of the range of opening offers. Enabling pre-bids also gives suppliers who do not want to participate in the live auction the opportunity to submit prices and compete as these are set before the auction begins.
Adding a user to an eAuction
Managing the team who has access to this request sits under the tab Team where you can see + Add user.
You can add users as an ‘Owner’ or a ‘Team member’. Owners have full access, while team members have limited functionality. Owners can manage team member permissions, and only owners can issue a request.
Please find a list of permissions you can manage below:
✏️ Please Note: Only owners are able to issue a request.
Inviting suppliers to your eAuction
Under the Suppliers tab, invite existing or new companies.
Use the search bar for existing companies or utilise My lists.
Choose from one of your supplier lists to add all suppliers from one or more lists to your eAuction quickly.
To invite suppliers outside DeepStream, click Send an invite and input their email address & company name, and they will receive an invite from our support address.
Review & Send
In the Review & Send tab, review all details and address any outstanding sections indicated by the red exclamation marks.
Once verified, click Send request the status changes to 'Live' and a countdown to the eAuction starts.
💡Important: For the setup of your first auction we recommend you speak with our customer success team who will help guide you to make sure you are happy with the setup before you send it out to your suppliers.
For any further queries, please use our live chat function or email: support@deepstreamtech.com