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Heavy equipment auction expert Ritchie Bros said it has recorded a 66 per cent increase in the registrations for the auctions in Europe and the Middle East region during the first half of the year.
A global asset management and disposition company, Ritchie Bros offers customers end-to-end solutions for purchase and sale of used heavy equipment, trucks, and other assets linked to key sectors, including construction, transportation, energy, oil and gas and mining.
As the Covid-19 pandemic hit and lockdowns spread, Ritchie Bros quickly adapted to online-only auctions and has seen a sharp increase in bidder registrations and solid returns for its consignors.
In Europe and the Middle East alone, Ritchie Bros. saw 30,000+ bidder registrations between January and June of this year, up 66% compared to the same period in 2019.
All European and Middle East auctions since mid-March have been conducted via online Timed Auctions – an easy-to-use auction system where lots are available for bidding for several days. Although these auctions lack the excitement of a live auctioneer, Timed Auction provides bidders more time to place bids.
Its Dubai auction (held from June 29 to 30) witnessed a 40 per cent increase in new bidders compared to the same period last year.
"Ritchie Bros. is known for its 'live' equipment auctions with auctioneers and big theaters," said Jeroen Rijk, the managing director for EMEA, South & Central America at Ritchie Bros.
Ritchie Bros saw 73 million visits to its websites and 11.2 million searches made via the company's mobile app, he stated.
Its key highlights include:
•308,000 equipment items and trucks were sold to buyers from 140 countries
•Auction items received 6.1+ million bids
•27,100+ equipment items were sold in 15 auctions in EMEA
•30,000+ bidder registrations for EMEA auctions, which is a 66% increase compared to 2019
Some of its new European site records include:
•Meppen (Germany): March 27 to 28 - 2,900+ bidders, up 41% from the same auction last year
•Maltby (UK): June 18 to 19 auction - 1,900+ registered bidders, up +170% from the same auction last year
•Moerdijk (Netherlands): June 10 to 12 - 2,500+ registered bidders, up 71% from the same auction in 2019
"But even before Covid-19, more than half of winning bids at our live auctions came from online bidders," remarked Rijk.
"Using our existing infrastructure, we quickly pivoted entirely to online auctions in March and have received lots of great feedback from customers - both buyers and sellers," he added.-TradeArabia News Service