Improving Container Sales through Efficiency

Traditionally, shipping lines and container lessors have sold their off lease shipping containers through closed networks. They periodically email their available inventory to a select list of clients, and wait for a response to come back. This process has worked for a long time, however the market is shifting and technology is making the process faster and more efficient. The Container Trader platform developed by ContainerAuction.com is one such software platform that’s pioneering this change.

The Current Process for Selling a Shipping Container

The seller of the shipping container exports a report from their asset management software; then decides which units are available for sale, and manually creates a list that is then distributed to a select group of buyers. The price is then negotiated, and the seller sends an invoice to the buyer and waits for the payment to arrive.

The problem with this process is the lack of efficiency. Buyers don’t have real time access to available inventory and can occasionally miss sales because of this. If the buyer misses a sales opportunity, the seller also misses the same opportunity. Coupled with the first issue, given that shipping lines and container leasing companies are global operations, there is a lag in communication response time. Factor in invoicing and bank transfers, ever sale requires at least three applications (asset management software, email and manual inventory logs, and accounting software).

g The amount of time spent processing a single invoice, no matter if it’s for a single piece of equipment or 100 shipping containers, is astounding. Any effort to reduce the touch points and save time directly equates to a cost savings.

The ContainerAuction.com Solution

The container trading platform developed by ContainerAuction.com consolidates many of the processes involved with selling a shipping container, and provides a logical solution to an international problem.

By using the Container Trader platform shipping lines, leasing companies, and commercial shipping container traders have the ability to create sales environments that provide different audiences with access to their available inventory.

• Retail Audience: Inventory listed as a retail sale is visible to everyone on both the Trader platform and ContainerAuction.com.
• Commercial Audience: Creating a commercial listing provides access to only commercial traders, and the listings will not be seen on ContainerAuction.com. This reduces single unit transactions that typically require a greater deal of attention.
• Private Audience: Shipping containers can be sold on an “invitation only” basis, and the account selling the containers can limit who has access to view the listings.

No matter what type of listing created, the targeted buyer has real time access to the seller’s available inventory, including any pictures and other relevant information that is provided by the seller. If there are any questions, the potential buyer can submit a question related to the specific container listing. If there are no questions the buyer can confirm that they would like to purchase the listing, and depending on the preferences of the seller, have an invoice sent to them.

The online container sales platform removes the need for periodic inventory lists by providing real time access to available inventory, regardless of how many time zones and miles separate the buyer from the seller. With this obstacle removed the process is more efficient and could result in a greater number of sales.

ContainerAuction.com has been involved in container trading and sales, and various aspects of shipping container and structured finance for many years. To learn how we can help you improve your sales cycle through increased efficiency we invite you to contact us to schedule an appointment.