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Edge-of-your-seat online shopping: Galaxus launches Dutch auction

7.8.2025

Translation: Katherine Martin

Prices on Galaxus have started dropping by the second. At least during the Dutch auction. Thanks to this new feature, products languishing in the Galaxus warehouse are getting a second chance in the limelight. Customers decide when a product’s cheap enough to buy. If they hesitate for too long, however, they’ll miss out. Anyone wanting to get their hands on a bargain will have to be the first to strike.

Update from 07.08.2025: we've heard the feedback from the Community loud and clear. Starting now, we're waiving shipping costs for auctioned items under 50 francs. Thanks for all your input!

Picture this. You’ve got your eye on a product, the price of which is dropping continuously. You get to decide how much you want to pay for it. The offer’s becoming more and more tempting by the second. But you’ve got to watch out. A whole host of other bargain hunters are watching the very same price falling, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The first person to hit «Buy now» wins the bid. This is known as a Dutch auction – a feature that’s now available on Galaxus.

A Dutch auction is an auction process in which the price starts high, then gradually decreases. As soon as a bidder’s willing to buy at the current price, the auction ends immediately. It’s a particularly popular sales method for fresh, perishable products such as fruit, vegetables and flowers. As the name suggests, Dutch auctions rose to prominence in the Netherlands, partly as a result of the historic tulip trade.

A new Dutch auction kicks off on Galaxus every day at 10 a.m. The online retailer auctions off 20 products per day, with prices falling in increments of two per cent. In other words, if a product starts off at 100 francs, the price will decrease by two francs at each stage of the auction.

Auction products can only be purchased individually – bidders can’t shop for other products during the checkout process.

The products up for grabs each day come from a range of different categories and price segments.

Making slow-sellers more attractive

In the e-commerce business, the longer a product’s lying around in a warehouse unsold, the more expensive it is for the retailer. Dutch auctions create another opportunity for Galaxus to boost the visibility of poor-selling products and get them off the shelves quickly. Meanwhile, customers can look forward to attractive prices and a little extra suspense added to their shopping experience.

«Mind you, this isn’t some kind of bargain-basement jumble sale for junk products,» explains Jeremy Fleming, a Product Owner on the team responsible for the new feature. «There are various reasons why products end up in the Dutch auction. A smartphone might not be selling because it’s a less popular colour, although it’s technically just as good as other models. Or a product might’ve been purchased initially, but then the customer cancelled their order. Items like these can quickly disappear from the limelight amongst our huge product range, making them very well suited to a Dutch auction.»

An algorithm decides which products should go to auction using criteria such as the length of time a product has been in the warehouse, how many times it’s been purchased to date and how many are available in stock. It also makes sure that shoppers taking part in the auction can choose from a varied range of products every day.

The adrenaline rises with every passing second

The project team has optimised the Dutch auction feature by carrying out live tests. Some of you might even have stumbled across the auction in recent weeks. «The auction’s designed to be as fun and easy to use as possible. For me personally, every auction is a new highlight and the team really enjoys it too,» says Jeremy.

He continues: «Although the Dutch auction looks relatively simple at first glance, developing it was a major challenge. Several teams from Product Development were involved so that we could get the right products into the auction, make the feature look appealing and get everything working without a hitch.» As is typically the case at Galaxus, every aspect of the feature was developed and implemented in-house. The Category Management team is involved on the product side of things.

The largest recorded price drop since Galaxus introduced Dutch auctions? A smartphone case that was reduced by almost 98 per cent. As for the quickest auction, that was on a pair of hiking boots. A price reduction of 3.6 per cent was enough to entice a buyer.

Are you planning to snap something up at one of our Dutch auctions? What do you think of the idea? Do you have any requests or suggestions concerning the feature? Feel free to let us know in the comments.

Header image: Manuel Wenk.

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Tobias Heller

Communications Manager

Tobias.Heller@digitecgalaxus.ch

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