How can odd lots or surplus goods be made into an attractive offer by eBay? And how does an eBay order find its way to the customer? DHL Home Delivery in cooperation with the GUS Group from Cologne have an answer to these questions. Along with eBay and AuktionMaster a logistics system has been created so that companies can use the well known Internet auction platforms comfortably and inexpensively in order to market large sales volumes quickly, safely and cost effectively.

DHL Home Delivery coordinated all the goods logistics for selected eBay Power Sellers in Germany. DHL Home Delivery uses for the warehouse management the ERP system from the GUS Group. "Since 1999 we have used the solution successfully in many projects and with the system we cover all the logistics details", explained Sven Bergmann, IT Project Leader for eBay at DHL Home Delivery. With the IT solution the fulfillment experts not only have effective management and efficient control of their processes but also quick and reliable deliveries for eBay customers.

Customer Contact in Millions
Using eBay auctions as part of a multi-channel strategy is attractive for companies as it opens up wider market segments and new customer groups. On average the acquisition costs for each customer are 40 to 70 percent lower than by any other online channel. And – volume is the key word: eBay has over 95 million registered users worldwide and offers auctions in more than 35,000 product categories. eBay Germany alone has access at any time to over one million articles. Auctioning surplus goods often leads to achieving higher prices than by using classical liquidation methods. It is possible to achieve up to 150 percent higher sales revenues. "With this platform for customers and end consumers we envisage a very successful way to achieve a classical Win-Win situation. This is why DHL Home Delivery with its product portfolio agreed to cooperate and support this channel", emphasized Bergmann.

Auction Trading
In order to use the eBay platform efficiently for selling large quantities of goods in Germany DHL Home Delivery works along with Connection to eBay and AuktionMaster. Connection to eBay is the business area of the worldwide management, technology and outsourcing provider Accenture. AuktionMaster, on the other hand, concentrates on the online development tool and this simplifies registration and development of online auctions. Connection to eBay, like AuktionMaster is linked to eBay via a special XML interface and then both systems are connected to the GUS-Software via a standard interface. Data communication is carried out over FTP links. Both companies bundle registrations so that data traffic works efficiently between the auction platforms. In addition, services such as the conception of auction strategies or transaction management extend the performance considerably at Connection to eBay. For commercial Power Sellers – often well known companies – there is an "all round care-free packet" available for sales over eBay.

IT Solution for Process Integration
For German as well as international Power Sellers, DHL Home Delivery offers complete logistic services - from in-coming goods, over to stock management and order picking, right up to sales. Distribution ends at customers’ front doors. This is logistics from one source. The logistic centers of DHL Home Delivery in Aachen and Braunschweig are turntables for goods distribution. At these locations they have 4,000 square meters (Aachen) and 13,5000 square meters (Braunschweig) of warehouse and order picking space available. "When you see the processes in the logistic centers working live then you can experience the advantages of the integrated solution from the GUS Group", emphasized Sven Bergmann. The software, based on the IBM iSeries platform, provides the main logistic functions and informs on the status of all the processes. To process the eBay orders the program areas for purchase, order development and item management are used.

Trading gets the green light
When possible, Power Sellers send goods samples to DHL Home Delivery so that storing facilities can be made suitable for their goods. In the logistic centers employees measure the products with a 3D scanner and then store the GEO data in the ERP-System.

This ensures that the warehouse resources are used efficiently and continuous data is available. After receipt of good stocks in the warehouse the incoming goods are then booked into the GUS-Solution. This creates the basis for an exact stock management so that employees in the logistic centers and the auctioneers have, at any given time, reliable information regarding warehouse status. This is extremely important because Connection to eBay and AuktionMaster can only link up to the relevant eBay auctions when the stocks are available.

Save with Special Offers
At the end of the auction the order with the delivery address of the auction winner as well as the article number and price is sent to DHL Home Delivery via Connection to eBay or from AuktionMaster. After the order has been booked in, the ERP-System automatically creates an order picking note. "We have a program with special functions for order picking", explained Michael Fömpe, GUS Deutschland GmbH. Orders dealing with just one product are consolidated together according to the article whereas orders with several lines are picked in relation to the order. This extended program function greatly increases efficiency in the day to day running of the warehouse because employees can gather together products out of the warehouse even when they are all being sent to different addresses.

Transparency for Security
Scans deal with status confirmations during the warehouse processes for storing, order picking and goods dispatch. They are defined in the workflow management of the system. The software even handles transport: The application automatically generates package stickers with freight-post bar codes. "This means that the solution guarantees transparency of the complete logistics process – from warehouse right up to the end consumer",stated Fömpe. DHL trucks deliver the orders to regional distribution centers and from there the well-known DHL vans then deliver the goods to customers.

Key to the Future
Currently DHL Home Delivery is developing logistics for remaining stocks, leasing or out-of-season goods as well as for the normal article spectrum from 10 eBay Power Sellers. All the signs are showing a tendency towards growth: The auctioneers are signaling that Power Seller numbers are tripling. The trend is also going in the direction of increased sales volume per seller. Ever more companies are discovering the advantages of an eBay auction as an additional sales channel. It can be reckoned that other companies as well as Connection to eBay and AuktionMaster will start to develop attractive services for large volume auctions. Even large Power Sellers can directly call up the services of the Deutsche Post subsidiary. DHL Home Delivery has set up an Internet site Power Sellers to access who have a minimum of 20,000 deliveries annually. "DHL Home Delivery, as a logistics expert, offers an uniquely wide pallet of top services for mail order trading. We are well prepared for the market", stated Sven Bergmann. The ERP-System also helps towards the performance.