Hiscox have released their now annual survey of online art trading. This year they’ve included a ranking of art sales sites (above.) Robert Read heads Hiscox’s art and private client group. Here are some of his highlights from the report:

The online art market has continued to grow strongly (up 24% to $3.27 billion) despite the global art market slowing in 2015.

Sotheby’s and Christie’s do really well in our newly created Online Art Platform Ranking 2016, but have they done enough or are they still stuck in a time warp?

Dealers are struggling to deal with the online challenge but remain insulated from reality as the traditional model still works (just about) and most are too small to take such a high risk gamble – probably a case of damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

Finally, in the online art world, mobile devices are becoming our weapon of choice and social media is becoming increasingly influential in persuading us that the Emperor’s new clothes really are magnificent.

Meanwhile, Colin Gleadell offers his own summary of the report in The Telegraph:

The auction market slowdown in 2015 does not appear to have affected online sales growth, a report by art insurance company Hiscox reveals today. Online art market sales reached $3.27 billion (£2.3 billion) last year, up 24 per cent from 2014, the report says. However, the growth of may be due simply to the increase in the amount of art available to buy online; there is still resistance to the trend. Thirty nine per cent of galleries polled have no e-commerce strategy in place, and only 43 per cent of new young art buyers said they bought directly online, down from 46 per cent last year. Christie’s, the online market leaders, saw a sales growth slowdown from 69 per cent last year, to just 11 per cent.

Hiscox Online Art Trade Report 2016 (Hiscox)

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