Industry Insights
The U.S. online art and sculpture market size was valued at USD 1.31 billion in 2017 and is expected to witness a significant growth, pertaining to the rise in the use of internet and digital platforms for procurement of such collectables. In the U.S., this market is primarily driven by the presence of large number of people interested in collecting these products and having inclination in such domain. The players in the market are adopting various strategies and offering transparency in auctions and bidding to attract more and more number of hesitant buyers online. Also, the impact of social media on new and emerging buyers is estimated to drive the demand for the industry.
U.S. Online Art and Sculpture market revenue split, by customer, 2017 (% share)
The small and big artists are showcasing their work online to reach a bigger audience and increase their earnings by selling more and more of their artistic work to foreign and domestic customers. A skillfully presented work presented to customers by leveraging the internet tends to build up integrity and credibility for the artist, and it also it familiarizes and educates the buyers with the artist and their work. The rise in leveraging the internet for selling one’s artistic work is posing a threat to the brick-and-mortar shopping. It is reducing the importance of art galleries and is encouraging to buy art work online. This market is the last one to go digital and it is being enjoyed by the consumers who love online shopping.
Segmentation by type
• Paintings
• Drawings and sculptures
• Others
The U.S. is one of the world’s largest trading centers of art and antiques owing to the presence of large number of buyers and collectors. There is a shift in the shopping trends for consumers, they have shifted from shopping malls to ecommerce platforms using laptops, desktops and mobiles owing to which the market is expected to grow over the forecast period. The rise in the new digital shopping and auctions platforms for artistic work has added liquidity in the market and is further expected to boost the sales.
The paintings segment is expected to dominate the online art and sculpture industry over the forecast period. Paintings segment is the major revenue generating segment on account of the high demand of paintings for decorative purposes on the walls in the houses. High growth of this segment is majorly attributed to the rise of awareness among customers for owing meaningful artwork which is just a click away. The ecommerce platforms are taking a lot of initiatives to spread brand awareness, making market data available and facilitating more accurate valuations to artwork to build up trust among the collectors and buyers which is expected to boost the sales over the coming years. Most expensive painting are preferred among collectors and fetch millions of dollars for the artists. Some of the paintings by artists such as Nicole Eisenman, Marcel Dzama, Paul Chan, and Mark Bradford are widely famous and are in demand all over the country.
Segmentation by end customer
• Foreign customers
• Domestic customers
In the U.S., the market is mainly driven by the domestic customers who want to collect and buy meaningful pieces of art to decorate their houses and put up expensive artwork on their walls. The number of ecommerce platforms which conduct auctions for original artwork, paintings, antiques and the likes are growing which is estimated to boost the market in the U.S. over the forecast period. With the rise in reliability, easy access to market information and the growth in online sales and auctions, the domestic buyers using mobile internet devices for bidding and buying art pieces are estimated to grow over the forecast period.
There is a rise in the number of buyers for artwork after the World War II, which was 500,000, back then and accounted to 70 million in 2015. The U.S. is equipped with the most prestigious auction houses and also contains a huge dealer circle for selling of original work on account of which a large number of domestic as well as foreign customers are attracted to invest safely with limited possibility of frauds.
The ecommerce platforms selling artwork are these days more creative as compared to the physical infrastructure of the auction houses and traditional gallery, which attract foreign customers as well. The online bidding and auction also allows the art galleries to gain more profits by saving manpower and commissions and making procurement a cheaper, accessible and one of the best for the buyers. Customers can explore and discover new collections for their homes and offices while sitting in their houses, as these online platforms are promoting a new formerly untapped community of consumers which is expected to fuel growth for over the forecast period.
Competitive landscape
The U.S. online art and sculpture market is a highly fragmented in nature with large number of existing and emerging new players. Major players in the industry comprise companies such as FineArtAmerica.com, Artspace LLC, Saatchi Art, Artfinder, Artsy and various others. Emerging portals and bidding platforms are expected to boost the market in the U.S. over the coming years. Competitors are taking strategic initiatives and gaining confidence of their consumers by providing more information and maintaining transparency during auctions to increase their market share.
