Hiscox Online Art Trade Report 2019

Online art sales trends

• The online art market grew 9.8% in aggregate in 2018 to $4.64 billion

  Whilst the online art market has been riding on the back of an overall art market boom since the financial crisis in 2009, global economic and political uncertainty is expected to test the resilience of online art buyers in 2019.

• Confidence among online art platforms reduces year-on-year

  Although 77% of the online platforms surveyed feel positively about the online art market in the coming 12 months, this is down significantly from 96% in 2018. This could be linked to the fact that 71% of the online platforms said they expected more consolidation among online art platforms in the coming 12 months.

• Instagram remains the favoured social media platform

  Instagram continues to be the art world’s favoured social media platform, with 65% of survey respondents choosing it as their preferred social media for art related purposes, up from 63% in 2018.

Online buying trends

• Online art buying trending up overall

  55% of the online art buyers surveyed said they were likely to buy more art over the next 12 months, up from 52% in 2018, however, the outlook among younger art buyers (aged 35 and below) is more muted year-on-year, with 56% saying they were likely to buy more art online, compared to 63% in 2018.

• Millennials significantly contributing to online buying trends

  29% of millennial art buyers said they preferred buying art online, compared to 14% a year ago. More millennials bought art online in the last 12 months, and 79% said they had bought more than once (up from 64% last year). In addition, 23% of millennials said they had never bought an art work in a physical space (e.g. gallery, auction or art fair) prior to buying art online, up from 18% last year.

• Online art market benefits from general retail e-commerce trends

  General retail e-commerce grew an estimated 21.6% in 2018, and online spending habits are also benefiting the online art trade, with 73% of art buyers saying they purchased other products in a similar price range prior to buying art online, up from 68% last year.

Emerging art market issues

• Blockchain and the art market

  Despite the hype and early promises of blockchain’s ability to cure many of the art market’s ills, the initial bubble seems to have deflated. Although the technology is here to stay and will further evolve, the majority of the art world remains on the fence and waits to see how this pans out.

• Provenance tracking and ownership-registry

  Provenance tracking and ownership-registry remains the most relevant user-case for blockchain in the art market at the moment. Half of the online platforms said that a title / ownership registry for the art and collectibles market would be the most likely area where blockchain technology would succeed.

• Appetite for fractional ownership

  Could fractional ownership be an entry point for young buyers who want to invest in the art market? 51% of art buyers surveyed under the age of 30 said they would consider fractional ownership of art as a form of investment. 43% of new art buyers (those to have been collecting art for less than three years) also showed an appetite for fractional art ownership.