The Digital Transformation of Auction Houses Ian Tee
If necessity is the mother of invention, then the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many aspects of the art industry to adapt to rising tides or risk going under. For auction houses, this disruption is especially hard as they traditionally organise their sale seasons around key events in the art calendar. I speak to representatives from various Southeast Asian and international auction houses, who shared their observations on the pulse of the secondary market as well as the challenges they see in the near future.
Digital acceleration at different capacities Even though the business was already making efforts to build its online capabilities, the pandemic has sped up digital acceleration across the board. Digital initiatives range from more modest upgrades of existing websites to the development of mobile apps catered to specific markets. David Fu, Director of Singapore-based 33 Auction, comments that the transition process was smooth for them because their revamped mobile interface went live prior to the start of the pandemic. “We saw encouraging results from online-direct sales, from both privately and through online exhibitions,” Fu adds. Similarly, Larasati started their first online-only auction in December 2014 and has been working with the third-party platform Invaluable since 2016. “The challenge was to convince clients that what they see online are accurate representations of the artworks,” says Chief Executive Officer Daniel Komala. As clients gain trust and familiarity with the online platform, he expects that digital marketing will take over physical presentations, especially for artworks at the lower end of the market. New digital features are also rolled out to enhance user’s online experience.
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