Steelez: ‘we make it easy’: Emerging as India’s Top E-Auction Platform.

The growth of the online community has changed the way businesses work. The electronic auction marketplace trend continues to grow as India is gradually shifting to an electronically driven nation. Besides benefiting the seller through enhanced profits, it also helps the buyers in making the right choices from a wide variety of items, that too from the comfort of their homes. This is just the tip of an iceberg. There are endless possibilities of innovation, creativity and structural change in all sectors of the economy.

The E-auction is an auction between sellers and bidders that takes place over an electronic medium. The auction can take place between two businesses, business to consumer, or consumer to consumer.

It has been more than a decade when this concept of the online auction was first introduced in India. Back then there were a few organizations that introduced e-marketplaces such as FreeMarkets with an objective that a large number of buyers and suppliers would meet and do business. The idea, however, failed, as most companies were unwilling to go ahead with unknown suppliers. However, there were a few large conglomerates who learned from this event and were quick to adopt e-auction into their work style. With better planning and a more professional approach, it proved out to be a winning move.

This article covers a story of one leading Indian company ‘Steelez: ‘we make it easy’ that literally started in a small garage with a mere 2 employees, but with grit, passion, and resilience, was able to maintain the discipline to move ahead even in the hours of discomfort. And this resulted in creating all the differences. The company now has eight branches across India and has an association with top corporates around the globe.

Understanding Steelez: ‘we make it easy’

Steelez: ‘we make it easy’ is a pioneer in the field of online auctions for the sale of Secondary & scrap disposal (Forward auctions), e-transportation (Reverse Auctions) for Domestic/ Ocean Freight, logistic solutions, e-procurement for purchases through online e-bidding.  Steelez: ‘we make it easy’ aims to make steel buying a customer-friendly activity with transparency in pricing and policies

A company has to meet the needs of both clients and bidders to reach a higher success rate whether its a tender, Manual Auction, or E-auction. Not many companies conduct Electronic–auctions allowing customers to bid for the items online. Steelez: ‘we make it easy’ is one of the pioneers in this field. The company carries on the auctions for a range of items. Steelez:‘we make it easy’, has excelled and focused basically on steel sectors. It has designed a user-friendly interface for the customers to bid for the auction items.

The company has successfully leveraged the in-house skills to provide eBusiness solutions to small and medium-sized organizations in the steel domain. The highly experienced team of employees is always there to help in identifying and arranging the products which serve the best price for the corporates. The valuation teams provide the best value for the products. The team helps the client in every step of the journey, by selecting a suitable date as agreed by the seller, creating the right set of advertisements, keeping the auction transparent and ensuring that the process is convenient and hassle-free. Steelez: ‘we make it easy’ is thus gradually moving towards excellence.

How Online Auctions Work: 

E auctions have some similarities with the local auctions yet there’s so much of a difference. Like local auctions, E auctions also have sellers and bidders. Additionally, there are winners and losers. At the end of the auction, winners with the highest bid pay for what they were bidding on. But that is where the similarities between e-auction and traditional auctions end. To track the products and the progress there’s registration process in E-auctions. The communication generally happens over the email. The biggest advantage that an e-auction offers over a physical auction is complete transparency and participation from the widest possible range of prospective bidders. E-auctions are fairer as they don’t entail human intervention. The bottom line is that E-auctions do away with nepotism and under-the-table deals when the assets or high-value items or contracts are sold off. That’s one blow against corruption; just one, though.

Types of E-Auction: 

There are times when industries want to sell scrap online termed as ‘Forward Auction’ Similarly when these industries need to procure goods or services online termed as Reverse Auction. In Forward Auction, first, the value of the asset being auctioned is ascertained and the minimum amount that will be acceptable by the seller is worked out. Thereafter, those interested in participating have to register themselves on the seller’s online platform. Next, the earnest money is collected from the shortlisted buyers. As the e-auction commences, participants submit their bids during the specified period without having to be physically present at a particular place. When the auction closes, a report is generated and the successful bidders are intimidated. They then deposit the balance amount, after which a delivery order is issued, against which they can take delivery of the asset or resource from the seller.

In a reverse auction, the buyer puts up a request for a required good or service. Sellers then place bids for the amount they are willing to be paid for the good or service, and at the end of the auction the seller with the lowest amount wins.

Core Competencies: 

Steelez: ‘we make it easy’ has been a proven system for online freight negotiations for the outbound or inbound movement of goods through road, railways, ocean or sea. It has given a conventional system to clients like VIP Industries for Ocean Freight, for Kalpatru Power group, for all kinds of domestic logistics through road, ISCL, Bhushan Power, etc. It has also helped in saving extensive costs and has helped in the operations efficiently. Our clients have been able to witness these direct benefits.

From 2008 onwards, Steelez: ‘we make it easy’, has established one more vertical of reverse auctions for transportation of freight services, which got a commendable response from its clients. This proved to be cost-effective for them and was able to grab the best transporters, freight forwarders for their inbound & outbound movement of goods.

Diverse Range of Clients:  

The company is associated with top corporates of India like Maruti Suzuki, Honda Motorcycles, Jindal Power & Steel, Larsen & Tubro, Automotive Stamping, Tata Motors, VE Commercial etc with a pool of 15500+ active traders, end-users, recyclers, transporters, freight forwarders, vendors, etc. from all across the nation. The clients include manufacturers of steel, auto, original equipment, agricultural equipment, cement plants, pre-engineered building manufacturers, manufacturers of white goods, etc.

The Founder’s Message: 

Just like with every startup, our story of struggle does exist. Steelez; ‘we make it easy’ literally started in a small garage with a mere 2 employees for the first year. Gradually with sheer hard-work & commitment, we have been able to create 8 branches across India with 120+ qualified staff. As I go down memory lane, I recollect the first auction in 2005. We concentrated only on forwarding auction. It was an auction to sell 40MT which has now reached a whopping 5 million tons. I started this company single-handed and now have more than 120 employees working across India handling their respective zones. Each and every day brings with it a set of new challenges. This in itself,  is the daily tonic that peps me up and gives me the same zeal to get started at work, as I did on day one. Every day with the same positive attitude and zeal to work harder.

Our trump card is our transparency at all stages of bidding. Staying true to our word, consistency and accessibility are our key assets that ensure that our links with our clients stay strong.

Steelez: ‘we make it easy’ has a variety of services in form of auction platform, website design, bidding rules, automatic time extension, one-on-one interaction, personal assistance, after auction services, varied product services, and the list goes on. Its endeavor to constantly bring a new set of service standards and efficiency makes the company India’s top e-auction platform.