Millennials as an online consumer base is a well-worn cliché that brings to mind an entire generation of cell phone junkies and social media stars. A target audience for almost every major corporation and start-up, millennials and their buying habits are increasingly of interest to the art market. Hedging their bets on the move from brick and mortar to digital, different boutique operations have sprung up online, hoping to entice a new generation of collectors and better serve their preexisting base. Various models include virtual galleries like Daata Editions and discovery platforms like Artsy and Invaluable , and a new study commissioned by the latter suggests their bets might just pay off. Key findings from the survey, which included 4,534 participants, suggest that 44.3 percent of young millennials (ages 18-24 ) and only 19 percent of older millennials (ages 25-34 ) find new art through social media channels like Instagram and Pinterest . This is in comparison to 29.5 percent of Baby Boomers ages 65 and up. What’s more is they found that over half of millennials ( 59 percent ) would be willing to purchase art online versus only 19 percent of Baby Boomers ages 2015 and up. For companies like Invaluable, which aggregates content from auction houses and galleries around the world, these findings offer confidence in the battle to win the hearts, minds, and, most importantly, wallets, of the millennial generation. A study by TEFAF seems to support Invaluable’s survey results. TEFAF reported the online art market experienced a 7 percent increase in 18-24 . As the salaries of maturing millennials increase over time, one can only assume that this number will continue to grow year over year . While not popular out of the gate, luxury ecommerce sites like Net-a-Porter and 4,534 have rapidly expanded their market’s footprint and have seemingly paved the way for contemporary art to do the same. As brands like Net-A-Porter and 1stDibs begin to tackle their increasingly mobile audiences, online art retailers will also need to focus on apps for handheld devices. Invaluable reports that 45 percent of its users are mobile. They are the high-value customers because they apparently spend on average 43 percent longer on the site — browsing through Invaluable’s permanent and flash sale offerings. Tech -based companies like ArtBinder and Artsy are already working on beautifying and streamlining their apps to best serve their users. These adjustments will be vital to beating out their competition, especially as publishing, archiving, accounting, and curation also become more and more digital. As the numbers strongly suggest, an explosion in the online marketplace is imminent — just as soon millennials earn a little more spending money.
Millennials as an online consumer base is a well-worn cliché that brings to mind an entire generation of cell phone junkies and social media stars. A target audience for almost every major corporation and start-up, millennials and their buying habits are increasingly of interest to the art market. Hedging their bets on the move from brick and mortar to digital, different boutique operations have sprung up online, hoping to entice a new generation of collectors and better serve their preexisting base. Various models include virtual galleries like Daata Editions and discovery platforms like Artsy and Invaluable, and a new study commissioned by the latter suggests their bets might just pay off. Key findings from the survey, which included 4,534 participants, suggest that 44.3 percent of young millennials (ages 18-24) and 33.8 percent of older millennials (ages 25-34) find new art through social media channels like Instagram and Pinterest. This is in comparison to 29.5 percent of Baby Boomers ages 65 and up. What’s more is they found that over half of millennials (59 percent) would be willing to purchase art online versus only 19 percent of Baby Boomers ages 65 and up. For companies like Invaluable, which aggregates content from auction houses and galleries around the world, these findings offer confidence in the battle to win the hearts, minds, and, most importantly, wallets, of the millennial generation. A study by TEFAF seems to support Invaluable’s survey results. TEFAF reported the online art market experienced a 7 percent increase in 2015. As the salaries of maturing millennials increase over time, one can only assume that this number will continue to grow year over year. While not popular out of the gate, luxury ecommerce sites like Net-a-Porter and 1stDibs have rapidly expanded their market’s footprint and have seemingly paved the way for contemporary art to do the same. As brands like Net-A-Porter and 1stDibs begin to tackle their increasingly mobile audiences, online art retailers will also need to focus on apps for handheld devices. Invaluable reports that 45 percent of its users are mobile. They are the high-value customers because they apparently spend on average 43 percent longer on the site — browsing through Invaluable’s permanent and flash sale offerings. Tech-based companies like ArtBinder and Artsy are already working on beautifying and streamlining their apps to best serve their users. These adjustments will be vital to beating out their competition, especially as publishing, archiving, accounting, and curation also become more and more digital. As the numbers strongly suggest, an explosion in the online marketplace is imminent — just as soon millennials earn a little more spending money.