So you’ve already used electronic auctions to drive down the cost of your stationery contract, but now it's time to re-eAuction this commodity. There’s seemingly not much opportunity to realise the same kind of savings again, but how do you maintain best price? ...or extract even greater value?
One strategy you might like to consider is to use forward and reverse e-Auctions concurrently. Run a forward eAuction for a commodity such as stationery where suppliers increase the discount on the catalogue items and extend their payment terms – bidding against one another to offer the greatest number of days credit – whilst simultaneously running a tried and trusted reverse eAuction for the core / volume items to facilitate price reduction?
This approach has been used with other commodities and services and not only maintained best market price but added a dimension to ensure all round best value.
