This article is intended for buyers. If you're a supplier, check out our supplier help articles here.
This article will cover:
Running Live eAuctions
Before proceeding, refer to this article for setting up your eAuction.
After sending invites and the status of your auction has changed to Live, you can monitor current bids in the Suppliers tab within the request.
As soon as you have sent your request an eAuction countdown timer will appear for both Buyers and Suppliers.
Once the eAuction begins, a new timer will start showing the time left for the duration of the auction.
If an auto-extension is assigned within timing rules and triggered by a supplier’s bid, the timer resets to the amount of minutes you have set for new lead bids in the final X number of minutes.
Pre-bids
If you enabled Pre-bids in the setup of your eAuction, these prices submitted by suppliers will appear on the leaderboard prior to the eAuction starting.
Suppliers cannot bid above the ceiling price, this is set during the eAuction setup within the bid rules section. The ceiling price is detailed in the bid rules for suppliers.
DeepStream notifies suppliers of this limit and does not allow suppliers to bid above the ceiling price.
Leaderboard
The leaderboard updates supplier rankings as bids are submitted, providing live updates and timestamps for each bid in the audit trail.
✏️ Please Note: To be able to focus on the leaderboard only, click on Collapse in the top right corner to hide the tabs and navigation to make it a full view. To come out of this full view click Expand.
You can see live price savings in green at the top of the live eAuction dashboard, representing the difference between the lowest opening and final bids.
The comparison view (found at the bottom of the dashboard) shows all supplier bids against each item, and this information can be downloaded offline by clicking Download CSV in the top right.
The Bid feedback setup prior to the eAuction allows buyers to configure information shared with suppliers during the eAuction (to learn more about this setup for the Supplier click here).
Suppliers can see their live ranking if Buyers choose the ‘Rank and lead bid’ option. Bid updates will be provided on the same page that they submit their bids on, the notification will appear in the Activity box and will let suppliers know when they are no longer the lead bid and their new bid position. E.g. You are no longer the lead bid. Your rank is now 3rd.
Communicating with Suppliers
A unique feature to eAuctions from the rest of the DeepStream platform is the chat feature during a live eAuction.
Buyers and suppliers can use the chat feature, accessible for buyers immediately upon submitting the request and for suppliers once they declare their intention to bid.
This chat enables broadcasting to all suppliers or individual messaging.
The chat remains accessible on the auction page, allowing continuous participation without leaving.
The Support feature next to the chat allows users to contact DeepStream for assistance, serving both you and your suppliers.
If the need arises to pause the live auction, contact support@deepstreamtech.com immediately.
Once the deadline has passed, you can award a Supplier(s) by clicking on the drop down arrow under 'Request actions' and onto 'Award request'.
You can send messages and add documents with relevant details with regards to the request to winning or rejected suppliers, but no actions can be taken until after the deadline.
For any further queries, please use our live chat function or email: support@deepstreamtech.com