Multi-directional eAuctions
We launched a new kind of eAuction format just under a year ago… A multi-directional eAuction.
Multi Directional Reverse eAuctions are useful when you have some elements you want suppliers to bid down (e.g. unit cost) and others you want to bid upwards (e.g. a rebate, marketing money etc). Without multi-directional eAuctions you have to find some complicated way of calculating net prices and having suppliers input those net prices into the auction. With multi-directional eAuctions this is all taken care of by the system.
The first live ones happened in November, one in Europe and one in the USA. One of the eAuctions was for Mobile Telecoms (tariffs being bid downwards, hardware credits being bid upwards) and the other was for Furniture (price for new furniture being bid downwards, price for buying back existing furniture being bid upwards).
Very cool.
[By the way if you are confused about the terms "reverse" and "multi-directional" - remember that a Forward Auction is a selling auction and a Reverse Auction is a buying auction. Depending on what you are buying and how you are buying it, bids can go upwards or downwards in a reverse auction. I know it's confusing. But not much I can do about the terminology]