With the new year just getting underway, it's time to make big plans for 2019. For galleries, the...
As the year is coming to an end, it’s time to step outside the daily hustle and bustle to objectively analyze your gallery's performance. Here’s where year-to-date analytics provide a comprehensive look at your business, so you can set goals and make informed decisions in the new year.
We’ve highlighted a few key analytics to review, and they should be fairly easy to calculate from your sales reports. If you're using ArtCloud Manager, these reports and many others are generated for you in the Analytics section of your account.
Sales by Artist
Who are your top selling artists this year? Compare this year’s list of top sellers to your list from last year to determine how that list has changed.
You may discover some artists have shown a significant slow-down. In that case, dig further into the data to pinpoint reasons why and consider starting a conversation with the artist to get their input. There may unfortunately be some artists you need to say goodbye to, or help find new representation at a gallery where they may be more successful.
You'll also want to take a look at new artists who have shown promising sales or artists who have had sudden growth this year. As you plan for the next year, consider ways to further boost these artists, such as with a solo or group show.
Shipping Stats
Shipping analytics are often overlooked, as the numbers aren’t quite as enticing as sales revenue. However, there’s important information to take away from your shipping analytics.
Two factors to consider:
- How often you are shipping?
- How much revenue you are taking in for shipping?
Have you seen an increase in out-of-state sales? It may coincide with a new digital marketing strategy you’ve employed that resulted in more online sales.
If you’d like to see this number grow and have more sales outside your local area, you may decide you’d like to widen your marketing scope to appeal to clients out of your region.
Shipping artwork can be costly, so be sure you're accounting not only for shipping costs, but also the costs of shipping materials. Then you can better understand whether you are making up for those costs in shipping revenue or in other ways.
Top Buyers
Next up, check out your top buyers for the year. Do you have any new clients who have shot up to the top of the list? Now is a great time to reach out to those clients and say thank you.
Are there top buyers from previous years whom you haven’t heard from in awhile? Reach out to them around the holidays or beginning of the year and say hello. It's a great way to stay top of mind without asking anything of them or pushing for sales.
Types of Art
What type of art is selling most at your gallery? You can get a good general idea based on your top 15 artists, and then break down the percentages by type of art. This information will be useful as you recruit new artists and plan your show calendar for the next year.
Monthly Comparisons
Taking a step back to examine your sales month-by-month for the entire year can be enlightening.
You may also find it helpful to print out a chart and label each month with the coinciding exhibitions, events, or marketing initiatives you had at the gallery. This way, you can see at a glance if there were upticks in sales associated with certain activities and continue to improve upon and implement those in the new year.
Yearly Comparison
Finally, be sure to check out those same monthly sales over the last 3-5 years. Look for consistent trends of ups and downs that have also occurred this year. Use that information to strategize and improve in the year to come.
This is also a great way to see if you’ve reached some of your larger goals for your gallery. You may have reached a milestone you weren’t even aware of, and it’s important to celebrate with your staff and artists for all of their hard work!
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Use these analytics to understand your gallery business as a whole and make educated and strategic decisions on how you can grow and bring more art into the world!
It can assist in planning and deciding goals for the new year, but make sure every goal isn’t all about the numbers. Setting goals for client satisfaction, outreach, and your artists’ happiness should not be forgotten. Now that you’ve done some assessing, time to get planning and strategizing for the year to come!
Learn how ArtCloud Manager can help your gallery streamline operations and sell more art.
