It is all very well making the strategic decision to move online, but before you do so, it might be worth thinking about the motivations for doing so along with the benefits. By analysing this you can identify the key marketing issues and are able to develop an effective online marketing plan.
We have put together an analysis of a number of the benefits to moving your auction online.
Cost of sale is reduced through scale
As the auctioneer you can introduce a whole raft of cost saving measures to your auction business by operating online. The economies of scale from online trading can be realised in a number of ways.
Benefits such as the reaching a global audience; reducing transaction costs; reducing stocks levels and storage; having a more effective marketing strategy all help reduce the cost of sales.
Your auction website is full of hidden information. There is a wealth of data to be mined. This will reveal your users interests, viewing and buying habits.
This can be used to determine what items they should be directed to. You can tell through collective intelligence what lots groups of users are interested in and this can be used to determine what individual users might be interested in.
Use current website traffic to determine what your users are interested in and customize email marketing to your users viewing habits.
Being in the trade the auctioneer and other dealers have the opportunity to create niche markets for themselves within their own sector.
Are there new and interesting ways in which consumer and high value items can be sold online? Can high value items be brokered in a more efficient means?
No matter what hours your office is open, you can always have items for sale online. Whether you continue to operate offline auctions, you can still fill in the gaps between physical auctions and maintain a steady flow of revenue and customers through your business.
It also means you can straddle sales across timezones and reduce the need for your customers to travel to take part in bidding. You can effectively sell while you sleep as your site is accessible at all times.
Whilst auctions give the bidder the opportunity to pick up a bargain, there is also opportunity to create a competitive environment for the sale of items, even in the online auction room. Whilst users can be drawn from a wide geographic area, the implmentation of an interactive and dynamic user interface can recreate the bustling atmosphere of the offline auction room.
As markets close frequent bidding can give rise to the unique market values being derived as interest in lots hightens.
