Buying Art Online Goes Mainstream

While overall art sales contracted in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, online sales doubled in value. Aggregate online sales reached a record high of $12.4 billion, doubling in value from 2019, while the share of online art sales grew from 9 percent of total sales by value in 2019 to 25 percent in 2020, according to the fifth Global Art Market Report, published by Art Basel and UBS.

This was the first time the share of e-commerce in the art market exceeded that of general retail. This growth also came despite a 22 percent dip in sales of art and antiques globally, which stood at $50.1 billion in 2020

According to Christl Novakovic, CEO UBS Europe SE, head wealth management Europe and chair of the UBS Art board, called 2020 a «turning point for digital innovation in the art market, which traditionally relies on discretionary purchasing, travel and personal contact.

The crisis also provided the impetus for change and restructuring, the most fundamental shift being the rollout of digital strategies and online sales, which had lagged behind other industries up to now, said Clare McAndrew, founder, Arts Economics, who authored the report.

The report incorporated a survey of 2,569 high-net-worth (HNW) collectors, of which 66 percent felt the pandemic had increased their interest in collecting, while 32 percent reported it had significantly done so. Some 57 percent said they planned on purchasing more artwork in 2021.

And while the pandemic prompted the cancellation of high-profile art fairs – where the largest deals traditionally are sealed – some 45 percent of collectors also said they made a purchase through an art fair’s online viewing room.