Strategic sourcing is all about the bottom line and achieving maximum possible cost reductions. The fastest way to realize these potential cost savings is by creating a competitive market, and nothing reveals which suppliers are the most eager to strike a deal faster than a bidding war.
Reverse auction technology is the most efficient way for your organization to create a competitive environment where potential suppliers can vie for your business, and as a result, achieve maximum price compression.
So why are reverse auctions so often reserved only for a select few buying categories, rather than used as a primary method of sourcing all types of goods and even services? It is often down to how difficult and time-consuming businesses find them to manage.
Why can reverse auction seem to be labor-intensive?
Reverse auction events take careful planning and a lot of thought. With more traditional sourcing processes a lot of the definition of terms and the nuances of a deal are completed after a vendor has been agreed on. With reverse auction that work goes into the front end of the process, meaning there can seem to be a large amount of learning, thought, and legwork involved in the beginning.
The pay off, however, can be huge.
How to make reverse auction easier
The answer, as with most things, is to turn to technology to help.
Your business can up your strategic sourcing ante by investing in the reverse auction software. To be fully functional as a strategic sourcing tool, your auction software must be secure, easy to manage, and fully customizable. It also needs to be simple and easy to access by your procurement team and bidders alike, to ensure maximum stakeholder engagement.
To get the most out of your reverse auction process, you need to be able to set the correct parameters and tell suppliers exactly what your terms are and what you are looking for to achieve true comparability.
Reverse auction software with custom auction capability will ensure you are able to be specific enough to be making true, feature-for-feature comparisons between vendor bids.
How to find the best auction software
There are many independent software review websites that use a variety of in-house reviewer scores and aggregate independent user scores to rate and review software solutions across all sectors.
ProcurePort is delighted to share that we score consistently outstanding scores on all software review websites.
Reverse auction software review by Software Advice rates ProcurePort an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars. In particular, reviewers praised the scalability and flexibility of the software and the ease of uploading from Excel. Our online auction software was also applauded for ease of use and training.
ProcurePort’s procurement and e-sourcing suite also scores similarly highly on leading software review and independent research service Capterra, receiving an excellent 4.5 out of 5 stars again. All reviewers stated they were ‘extremely likely’ to recommend the solution.
One Capterra review for our online auction software reads, ‘It was easy and efficient for our needs. What I liked the most was their strong support for training vendors and the bespoke service they provided. I highly recommend ProcurePort to someone who is considering any bespoke online auction programs.’
ProcurePort’s online auction software delivers on all the capabilities required to ensure your business can use the reverse auction process to maximum benefit. Our software is delivered via the cloud as a SAAS solution, with the highest level of security. The software is available on all popular web browsers, including both Apple and Android smartphones, to ensure accessibility in the field.
The user interface is easy to navigate, with intuitive workflow and bid interfaces, and offers real-time analytics. As always, ProcurePort’s industry-leading customer service and support teams offer full training and support as part of the package.
E-Sourcing requires a specific set of skills and expertise, as well as the right software to successfully manage the process and maximize results. For an organization with zero to the limited experience of e-sourcing events, our fully managed e-Auction service may be the best way to introduce your procurement function to reverse auction.
To discuss how ProcurePort’s suite of e-Procurement software may help you streamline your e-Sourcing events or discover whether ProcurePort may be best suited to you as a full-service partner for conducting online auctions, please contact our team. For more sourcing solutions industry highlights, sign up for our newsletter.