Innovator of Logistics Software Offers Tips to Help Galleries Think Strategically About Ecommerce
As art galleries continue to rebound from the pandemic, and gear up to make the most of the final months of 2021 and beyond, ARTA, the leader in logistics software and fulfillment services for high-value goods and collectibles, is helping sellers make the most of their time off and prepare for an influx of demand for art in the months ahead.
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The art market has undoubtedly transformed during the COVID-19 pandemic – a report from Art Basel and UBS shows online art sales value doubled in 2020 and accounted for a full quarter of all art sales by value in 2020. ARTA’s platform helps businesses eliminate the inherent friction in selling unique items online from pre-purchase to fulfillment. With its API, ARTA provides instant shipping costs pre-purchase, and enables a click-to-buy transaction including streamlining complex logistics and automating end-to-end fulfillment and returns.
Here is ARTA’s playbook to help sellers understand when, how and why to move forward with ecommerce :
Who should be looking to adopt ecommerce as a strategy right now:
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- For sellers looking to expand their collector base or gain a bigger presence outside their local community, experimenting with online sales will be the quickest way to do this. However, this needs to go beyond displaying an image on a website or social media, and inviting collectors to inquire to learn more. Businesses need to reduce the friction in the purchase experience and adopt a seamless click-to-buy user experience if they really want to draw in new collectors.
- – First step: Identify one or more people in your organization to spearhead defining a digital strategy and execution of a successful plan.
What do sellers need to do to make it happen:
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- Be realistic about what your business can afford to invest in when it comes to a new sales channel, both in terms of a monetary investment and allocating internal resources. From there, build a strategy that balances internal support, outsourced work, and external services. Once your strategy is in place, it is critical to align internal teams on the processes for handling online sales.
- – First step: Determine if you have the bandwidth and resources to launch your own ecommerce platform, or if it’s a more reasonable first step to sell through a third party channel or marketplace (or both!). Create a checklist of everything you will need to do in order to launch, and put a timeline in place to handle each of these tasks.
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When should galleries launch a digital strategy:
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- It’s clear that digital sales aren’t going away post pandemic, so if it hasn’t been a priority for your gallery to date, now is the time to make this a priority and start building the groundwork.
- – First step: Identify outside resources needed to fill in gaps on your existing team. Use the end of summer lull to research, build, strategize, and allocate the resources you need to go live as soon as possible. For businesses looking to get to market quickly, ARTA recently launched their hosted services that enable clients with limited technical resources to launch an ecommerce solution with minimal technical investment.
Where should galleries be selling:
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- Selling directly to collectors means you aren’t giving up margin, but will require investment in building your own ecommerce infrastructure. On the flip side, third-party marketplaces may take a portion of sales.
- – First step: Research marketplaces that could be a good fit for your organization, and talk to existing sellers on the platform to learn about their experience.
Why should galleries move online:
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- As millennials and GenZ gain more spending power, the generations that grew up in the digital world will want to buy art and collectibles online as easily as they can anything else. Sellers will need to meet the expectations of today and tomorrow’s buyers. Plus, new technologies are now available to galleries, sellers and auction houses that enable ecommerce to become a reality.
- – First step: Identify the tools and services that enable a streamlined purchasing experience for your collectors, and begin conversations with those providers to understand the steps to go live.
“The pandemic has accelerated interest and adoption of ecommerce for high-value goods,” said Adam Fields, founder and CEO of ARTA. “Consumers are more comfortable buying these items online and have now come to expect the convenience of purchasing online, too. The key to success for sellers is about simplifying the digital buying experience by automating the transaction, fulfillment, and post-purchase process. ARTA is committed to helping remove the barriers and enable more sellers to realize the power, promise and profitability of an ecommerce strategy.”
ARTA ships thousands of items annually across 60+ countries for companies like Sotheby’s, LiveAuctioneers, Hauser & Wirth, and Artsy. The company recently secured $4.5MM in seed financing and is launching 10 new API integrations, driven by an increase in demand and business needs to sell online.
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