Case Study

An auctioneer makes a winning online bid

When an established industrial equipment auction house wanted to extend its business online, executives asked Bain to identify where it could best compete. Bain recommended creating an online resource for sellers and buyers that built upon the company’s history of B2B success. The approach achieved a 170 percent increase in visitors and lots listed.

  • min read

At a Glance

  • 270% rise in average daily unique visitors
  • 170% rise in number of lots listed

The Story

The Situation

FastTalkers*, an established industrial equipment auction house, was considering the best strategy to bring its business online.

Traditional and online auctioneers have succeeded for very different reasons.

Traditional auctioneers focus on depth of offering
  • Experience
  • Relationships
  • Value-added services
  • Aggregated assets
Online auctioneers focus on breadth of offering
  • Anytime, anywhere
  • Scalability
  • Unaggregated assets

Bain was asked to help FastTalkers migrate to a full potential B2B e-commerce strategy.

Our Approach

The Bain team analyzed the online auction industry and defined how FastTalkers could best compete.

Our Recommendations

Bain recommended that FastTalkers adopt an integrated business model that would provide a unique solution for both sellers and buyers.

The Results

By implementing Bain's recommendations and working closely together with Bain in various phases of the start-up, FastTalkers rapidly gained sustainable scale and momentum.

 

* We take our clients' confidentiality seriously. While we've changed their names, the results are real.

 

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