Chocs away for Thorntons new e-auctions

After moving more of its purchasing to online auctions, chocolate retailer Thorntons is to refresh its e-sourcing strategy.

Thorntons, which previously used a pay-as-you-go managed online auction system from Wax Digital, is now moving to a flat-fee option where it will host its own auctions on the same system.

Thorntons will run its first self-managed e-auction in May after seeing the number of online auctions it runs grow from two four years ago, to eight to 10 auctions per year currently, according to David Proctor, head of purchasing and supply at Thorntons.

"When you're running more than six or seven auctions, it's more cost-effective to manage them yourself… some of the times we're auctioning off the same commodity again and again and it's relatively easy to manage from there," Proctor told silicon.com.

The retailer uses the Wax Digital e-auctions for 'tactical' commodity purchases, such as butter, hairnets for factory workers and stationery.

Proctor predicts Thorntons will increase the number of online auctions it runs to around 12 per year.

Using online procurement has helped the retailer cut an estimated 10 to 15 per cent off supply costs.

"It's difficult to have known how much of that value you would have got by just doing conventional negotiations, but in every auction we've done we absolutely do believe we have got better value by doing auctions than by using any other method of negotiation," Proctor said.