Europe's Largest Toy Auctioneers

The Challenge

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Vectis, an established name in toy auctioneering, and a division of the Hambleton Group, wanted to upgrade its auction software solution to accommodate its rapidly expanding operations. The main goals included:

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1. Implementing a seamless back office/front office auction management and online bidding solution.

2. Achieving smooth user interface transitions and easy-to-use back-office functionalities.

3. Transferring over 150,000 existing users from the old system to the new platform seamlessly.

4. Auction day efficiency, reducing the number of staff needed to run the auction software and associated 3rd party platforms.

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The Solution

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Upon consultation, Auction Marketer proposed and scoped and innovative auction software strategy:

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1. Deep Discovery: An intensive onsite evaluation of Vectis' methodologies and operational requirements.

2. System Design: UI prototypes to ensure user-friendlyfront end and back office functionalities.

3. Integration: Coupling Auction Marketer BidstreamTM auction software tools with the BCN Group's enterprise-level ERP and financial solutions.

4. Features Implemented:

  - Automated web auctions with content taxonomy to maximise SEO effectiveness.

  - Live auction web streaming.

  - Auction valuations system linked to Microsoft Business Central.

  - Client web back office for paperwork and bidding history management.

  - Live auction performance dashboard.

  - Opayo payment gateway integration for secure tokenisation and automated transaction processing post auction.

  - Automated shipping opt-in/out functionality.

5. User Transition: A simple process where existing users could easily shift to the new platform with clear prompts and guidance.

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Launch Results and Digital Transformation

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1. User Integration: Post switchover, by the second auction, live bidding on the Vectis Private Label reached near 80%, reflecting user ease with the new system.

2. Platform Transition: A significant majority of users shifted from aggregated platforms to Bidstream^TM by Auction Marketer due to its user-friendly setup.

3. Operational Efficiency: The new system streamlined live auction events and reduced post-auction administration, resulting in likely ROI within just 90 days.

4. Satisfaction: After just four days of using the new platform, the Vectis team became adept at using the new auction tools, reflecting the ease and efficiency of the solution.

5. Operational Transformation: The realtime integration to BCN's ERP tools have cut down on manual tasks significantly allowing Vectis to run sales more frequently and dispatch items faster.

6. Fixed cost, delivered on budget, on time: Our team scoped and costed the project with the Vectis term and came in on time, on budget, freeing Vectis to add new features post launch as they needed to.

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Project Timeline

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Including discovery, scoping, design,development, testing and training:

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Start Date: May 21st, 2023

Launch Date: Oct 10th, 2023

Duration: 5 months

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Technical Insight

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The auction platform is powered by Auction Marketer's bespoke auction management software hosted on a custom AWS auction stack, maintained by their DevOps team. It's equipped with components ensuring optimum speed and uptime. Features include load balancers, automated scaling, S3 fast image and media storage, Elastic (OpenSearch) with custom-built APIs on Lambda, integrated with a proprietary AI solution.

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Closing Thoughts

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Vectis' transformation story stands as a testament to Auction Marketer's prowess in delivering tailored auction software solutions. As Vectis continues its journey, 'Scouting for Toys,' the new system ensures they're better equipped than ever.

Empower your auction business today with Auction Marketer. Get in touch to see how we can transform your auction business,