My collectors don't buy online: really?

01What collectors actually do online

The fundamental misunderstanding lies in the word "buy." When a dealer claims that their collectors do not buy online, they imagine a fully dematerialised journey: the collector discovers a work on a screen, clicks a button, pays by credit card and receives a parcel. This journey exists, but it represents only a fraction of the transactions influenced by digital channels. In market reality, the vast majority of art sales that close pass through an online research phase before concluding with a human exchange. The collector who walks into a gallery already knowing which artist they want to see has usually begun their journey on the internet.

The actual behaviour of the contemporary collector breaks down into several stages, all of which involve digital tools. First, the monitoring phase: the collector follows galleries on social media, consults specialist platforms, reads press articles online. Next, the selection phase: they identify an artist or work of interest, check current exhibitions, verify reference prices on public databases. Finally, the contact phase: they send an email or fill in a form to request additional information. This sequence has become so natural for today's collector that they no longer even perceive it as a digital act. It is simply how they inform themselves before making a decision.

Studies conducted by major auction houses and professional federations converge on one finding: the share of collectors who conduct online research before any art purchase has crossed the eighty per cent mark. This figure does not mean these collectors buy by clicking a button. It means they consult gallery websites, view works on specialist platforms, read articles about artists, compare offerings, and inform themselves about prices before picking up the phone or pushing open a gallery door. The dealer who is not visible online is simply not in the field of vision of these collectors at the moment they make their decisions.

02The collector profile has changed

The dealer who claims to know their clientele perfectly is right on one point: they know their current collectors. But they do not know the collectors they have never met because those collectors never found them. The art collector profile has evolved considerably over the past decade. New entrants to the art market, those making their first purchases between thirty and forty-five, grew up with online commerce. They buy their clothes, travel, furniture and books on the internet. The idea that they could not discover an artist on a digital platform before coming to see the work in a gallery would strike them as absurd.

Galerie Perrotin, which developed an ambitious digital presence early on, has observed that its website and social media generate a significant volume of enquiries that subsequently convert into sales, often concluded by telephone or during gallery visits. Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac has made the same observation. These galleries do not claim that their collectors buy in a single click. They observe that the purchase journey begins online and ends with a human exchange, and that the absence of a digital shopfront is equivalent to closing the front door of that journey.

03Geography no longer protects anyone

The geographic argument is often invoked by dealers who believe their local foothold suffices. The gallery is located in a neighbourhood known to enthusiasts, collectors come from the region, openings attract a loyal audience. Why invest in an online presence when word of mouth has worked for thirty years? The answer lies in a single observation: the art market has become global. A collector in Seoul, Dubai or Sao Paulo interested in an artist represented by a Parisian gallery will never push open that gallery's door if they cannot find it online. And these international collectors represent, for many galleries, considerable growth potential.

Art Basel, which launched its Online Viewing Rooms during the lockdown period, demonstrated that significant transactions could be initiated remotely with collectors on other continents. These collectors do not replace local clientele: they add to it. The gallery that remains exclusively local deprives itself of this additional layer of clients without reinforcing its position in its local market.

The proximity argument is all the more fragile because local collectors themselves no longer move around as they used to. The dealer who counted on foot traffic in their neighbourhood observes that spontaneous gallery visits have declined over the past decade. The habits of strolling and browsing that once led art enthusiasts to discover a gallery by chance are becoming rarer. Today's collector, even if they live five hundred metres from the gallery, checks the programme online before making the trip. If they cannot find the gallery on the internet, they will not come, not out of laziness but because they simply will not know that an exhibition of interest is currently on.

04The numbers dealers cannot see

A dealer without a structured digital presence has no way of measuring what they are losing. They do not know how many potential collectors searched for one of their artists online and did not find their gallery. They do not know how many visitors to their website, if they have one, leave without making contact because the site is poorly designed, the works are not properly photographed, or essential information is missing. They do not know how many collectors purchased a comparable work from a competitor because that competitor was visible on a specialist platform.

Gagosian gallery, which has a digital department of several dozen people, precisely measures its collectors' online journeys: pages visited, works viewed, time spent on each artist page, enquiries sent. This data allows the gallery to adapt its commercial strategy in real time. A more modestly sized gallery does not need such a setup, but simply knowing how many people view its page on a platform like Artedusa would give it a picture of its potential audience that it has never had.

05The objection of touch and emotion

The most deeply held argument from reluctant dealers concerns emotion. One does not buy a work of art like one buys a book. The work must be seen in person, in space, in natural light. The grain of the canvas, the texture of the paint, the scale of the sculpture: all of this escapes a screen. This argument is perfectly valid. Nobody claims that a screen replaces the physical experience of a work. But nobody claims that a printed catalogue replaces it either, and yet galleries have been sending catalogues for decades to inspire collectors to come and see works in person.

An online presence plays exactly the same role as the catalogue, more effectively and more accessibly. It shows the works, provides essential information, sparks curiosity and desire, and leads the collector to contact the gallery to see the work in person. Digital does not replace the physical gallery. It is the gallery's best sales agent, one that works twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, across all time zones, and asks for neither salary nor commission.

06The example of mid-sized galleries

The dealer who thinks that digital concerns only large international galleries such as Gagosian or Pace is making an analytical error. Large galleries certainly have considerable means, but it is mid-sized galleries that derive the greatest proportional benefit from their online presence. A gallery representing five to ten artists with one or two staff members can multiply its visibility considerably by being present on a specialist platform, because the ratio between the small time investment and the audience potentially reached is far more favourable than for a gallery that already has worldwide recognition.

Galerie Kamel Mennour, which started as a modestly sized gallery before becoming one of the major players in the Parisian market, accompanied its growth with a progressive development of its digital presence. Dealers who observe its trajectory see an inaccessible model, but the essence of the model is reproducible at any scale: show the works professionally, respond to enquiries diligently, and let time do its work.

07What dealers who took the step have found

The testimonies of dealers who have developed an online presence converge on several points. The first is surprise. Many dealers who were convinced their collectors would never buy online discovered that those same collectors were delighted to browse available works from home, to receive personalised proposals by email, and to prepare their gallery visits by consulting the website or platform beforehand. The second is the discovery of new collectors. Buyers the dealer would never have met through traditional channels make contact after discovering the gallery online. The third is time saved. The collector who arrives at the gallery having already viewed works online knows what interests them. The conversation is more focused, more productive, and more often results in a sale.

Galerie Lelong, which has developed a structured digital presence, has found that sales initiated through online contact represent a growing share of its revenue, without gallery sales declining. The two channels reinforce each other rather than cannibalising.

08The question is no longer whether, but how

The dealer still wondering whether their collectors buy online is asking a question that is no longer the right one. Their collectors use the internet to inform themselves, discover, compare and prepare their purchases. Whether they finalise the transaction in the gallery, by telephone or by email changes nothing about the fact that the journey begins online. The only question worth asking is how: how to build a digital presence that reflects the quality of the gallery's programme, that attracts the right collectors, and that translates into sales.

Artedusa was designed by art market professionals for art market professionals. Each partner gallery benefits from a personalised space, a qualified international audience and dedicated support. Joining Artedusa means opening a second door to the world without closing the door to your gallery.