3. HNWI Buying Channels

The most used channel for purchasing art was a gallery or dealer, with 95% of respondents buying either at a gallery, online, through social media, or at an art fair. In the first half of 2024, 41% had bought at an art fair, up from 39% in the whole of 2023. Auctions were the second most widely used sales channel, with 67% having bought at auction so far in 2024.

The importance of a multichannel approach for dealers was evident. In addition to purchasing in person at galleries, 72% of HNWIs had bought through a dealer’s website or OVR without viewing the work in person first, 61% used email or phone, and 43% bought from them on Instagram. HNWIs spent the most through dealers, which accounted for 60% of their total spending in the first half of 2024. This was divided into spending associated with gallery visits (28%), online (through a dealer’s website or online platform) (25%), art fairs (18%), email or phone (18%), and Instagram (11%).

HNWIs showed a strong willingness to purchase from new galleries in 2023 and 2024, with 88% of those buying from dealers engaging with at least one new gallery. The number of galleries HNWIs purchased from was higher than in previous years, averaging 18 in 2023 and 17 so far in 2024, up from just 13 in 2019. This sample of HNWIs also had a significantly larger home bias, with a majority of 70% of the galleries they purchased from being local in 2024, versus 50% in 2022.