E-commerce changing Indias art mart: Saffronart CEO

E-commerce changing India's art mart: Saffronart CEO

Saffronart is offering a niche collection of modern and contemporary art for its autumn online auction Sep 21-22

Madhusree Chatterjee

Thursday, September 15, 2011

NEW DELHI, INDIA: E-commerce sites are changing the way people buy art in the country, says Dinesh Vazirani, CEO of India's biggest online art auction house Saffronart. The e-buyers are aggressive, confident and wide in demography.

"The e-commerce sites and the penetration of internet have thrown up a new segment of art buyers who are savvy with technology and confident. E-commerce is a budding platform in the country through which one can access buyers all over the world. It is very nascent in India but important because people are looking at the Indian art market," Vazirani told IANS in an interview.

"The buyers, mostly upwardly mobile, bid very aggressively on the mobile phones because it affords them anonymity and flexibility. The physical auction room has limitations," he said.

Also read: IBM to offer e-commerce solution for Everfresh

The bids get more layered on the digital platform. "You get a cross-section of demographic mix on the online platform," Vazirani said.

Studies cite tha the Indian art market is estimated at over Rs..2,000 crore (Rs.20 billion).

Saffronart is offering a niche collection of modern and contemporary art for its autumn online auction Sep 21-22. The collection featuring 70 lots by 32 contemporary artists is estimated at about Rs..35.2 crore.

The selection includes works by masters like Jehangir Sabavala, Tyeb Mehta, M.F. Husain, S.H. Raza and Arpita Singh.

Vazirani said buyers will be bidding online and on their cell phones.

Also read: E-commerce taking wings in India

"There has been convergence within technology. Hand-held instruments like mobile and i-pads are integrating with the internet on one platform, the mobile phone, to help more and more people conduct their lives through technology, organise them. One can see all kinds of transactions on the internet, including art," Vazirani said.

India has more than 500 million mobile users, estimates by telecom regulatory authority TRAI say.

Auction bids on the mobile phone and the internet are more confident, Vazirani said.

The online art buyers are younger, he said. "Younger people are so comfortable with the technology all around. It has changed their behavioural pattern," Vazirani said.

Vazirani said "the dynamics of the art auction market have changed since the meltdown".

"During boom time, investors had become speculators. But the meltdown has changed the buying outlook. The market is drawing serious collectors who are a lot more aware and educated. They look for provenance (history and authenticity) of the art they are buying," Vazirani said.

Vazirani predicts that the consolidation of the collectors' market and e-commerce in art will lead to a "next phase of infrastructure building".

NEXT>>

Would you like to Comment on this Article?

Name
Email
Comment Here
Code Verification

Be first to comment on this article

+ Follow us to know more about CIOL +

3G or 4G? Which is your preference

Facebook mkt makers' losses at least $100 mn

NBC to buy Microsoft's MSNBC.com?

India adds 6.50 mn new GSM subscribers

Indian PC market grew 6.6 p.c. in Q1: Gartner

Why 122,680 Facebookers 'like' Nirmal Baba?

Do you think IT employees need unions?

Book your trip to Vaishno Devi online

Can Aamir Khan bring down female foeticide?

DataWind terms Aakash II launch a revolution

Subscribe to PCQuest for iPad & Android tablets

Register Free at DQ Top 20 Online portal & get insights on the Indian IT Industry

Enterprise IT News and Analysis in your inbox

Subscribe to the free PCQuest newsletter

Do you think IT employees need unions?

Arun and Cipla - no ladders, no snakes

Cyber attacks: Have India's neighbours turned culprits?

Personal cloud will eclipse PC: Gartner

SMEs don't give much importance to security

Sponsored Links:

Custom Sites:

Demo Downloads On:

1-Click News Updates