Custom Web App for Live Art Auctions' Market Leader
Goals
Artinfo aimed to innovate the art auction market by creating a seamless, real-time online bidding platform to enhance user experience and maintain their leadership.
01
Develop a real-time online art bidding platform
To make participation more convenient and attractive, Artinfo wanted to provide an easy-to-use platform for handling online real-time bidding during auctions.
02
Enhance market position and attract more users
By implementing a modern and efficient auction platform, Artinfo aimed to solidify their market leadership and attract a broader audience, including tech-savvy younger demographics and international collectors.
03
Improve user engagement and satisfaction
Enhancing the user experience with an intuitive design and robust functionality to keep users engaged and satisfied, encouraging repeated participation in auctions.
Challenge
Artinfo needed to transition from a manual, phone-based auction system to a modern, automated online platform while managing a large, outdated database.
Rafal Kamecki
CEO & Founder of Artinfo
The project was demanding, and I needed to be sure that my partner had enough resources, knowledge, and experience.
Artinfo, a leading art center portal, faced several challenges with their manual phone-based auction system.
Ineffective Manual Processes
The reliance on phone-based bidding was labor-intensive and prone to errors, limiting scalability.
Slow Database Performance
The 10-year-old MySQL database struggled with performance issues, affecting the speed and reliability of data access.
Lowering User Engagement
The outdated website design and functionality were insufficient to keep users engaged, leading to lower participation in auctions.
Lack of Real-time Bidding Stability
The existing system lacked the necessary infrastructure to ensure stable and fast data processing for real-time online auctions.
Scalability Issues
The old architecture could not efficiently handle increasing traffic and auction participation, hindering growth.
Unfriendly User Interface
The need for a modern, intuitive UI was critical to enhance the overall user experience and make the platform more attractive to users.
Summing all these challenges up, they significantly limited Artinfo’s ambitions and blocked their company development.
Approach
The requirements were all clear and we love working with such transparency and professional attitude.
Rafał Kamecki
CEO & Founder of Artinfo
We decided to create an application that will bring a new quality to the world of art auctions.
We analyzed the main technological challenges and meticulously chose the apt solutions to develop a robust, user-friendly platform with a high-performance back end.
Ruby on Rails for Reliable Back End
Provided a mature framework for developing the core structure of the application, ensuring stability and scalability.
Vue.js for Dynamic Front End
This progressive JavaScript framework was used to develop a responsive and dynamic front end: the custom CMS, as well as employee, user, and helper panels.
PostgreSQL for Data Management
Chosen for its advanced features and performance, PostgreSQL handled the extensive dataset efficiently.
Elastic for Art Search
Implemented as the search engine to provide fast and accurate real-time search results.
Key Steps:
Successfully migrated the MySQL database to PostgreSQL, ensuring data integrity and improved performance. It wasn’t easy as their extensive database contained over 400,000 artworks and a huge historical auction dataset.
Developed Artinfo Live, an easy-to-use platform for real-time online bidding, using Ruby on Rails and Vue.js.
Enhanced the user interface with a modern, intuitive design to improve user engagement and satisfaction.
Results
We’re highly satisfied seeing more and more art enthusiasts are interested in buying art online. We can proudly say that we played some role in that process!
Rafał Kamecki
CEO & Founder of Artinfo
Opinions of Artinfo users are very positive, which is why I can safely say that we have succeeded.
Our collaboration with Artinfo resulted in a cutting-edge online auction platform, significantly improving user engagement, data management, and overall auction participation.
Thanks to online bidding, participation in auctions has become much simpler, more convenient, and attractive. Clients do not have to come to Warsaw or any other Polish city to take part in the auction. They have permanent, unlimited access to all information from the art world.
Automated bidding processes reduced manual workload and errors, making participation in auctions simpler and more convenient. The process of auction storing has been significantly optimized.
It lets Artinfo manage all the auctions organized in Poland by 50 entities, including auction houses, galleries, associations, and foundations.
Outcome
The new user-centric platform allowed Artinfo to engage with a wider audience, increase participation, and volume up revenue from auctions
Before
Limited by an inefficient auction system, Artinfo struggled to maintain its leadership in the rapidly evolving art market
After
Artinfo is now an art-oriented website that attracts the largest number of people interested in the Polish art market
Improvements
Our work resulted in:
Reinforced Market Leadership
Hosting over 300 auctions annually, the platform provides users with easy access to all available auctions in Poland.
Increased User Convenience
Users can manage their favorite artists, set alerts for new listings, and participate in auctions from anywhere.
Increased Online Sales and Record Prices
More artworks are being sold at record prices, and Artinfo can easily monetize the archives and acquire new customers.
Improved Operational Efficiency
Automated handling of bids and orders significantly reduced manual workload and errors.
Extensive Database Management
Maintaining an extensive and updated database of artists and artworks ensured high data integrity and reliability, supporting Artinfo’s role as a trusted information source.
Trusted Way of Bidding
The online bid amount exceeds 25,000 €, meaning collectors and art lovers trust this form of bidding, even at such high price levels.
Some numbers (we all like numbers!)
0%
of traffic comes from mobile devices
0+
online bidding yearly
0%
of phone bids transferred online
0k+
unique users a month
Most interesting features
Broader access
Real-time Online Bidding
Artinfo Live enables users to participate in live auctions from anywhere, providing instant access to offers from multiple auction houses.
Easier UX
Sophicticated Search Engine
Implemented Elastic search engine for fast, real-time search results, allowing users to find artworks, artists, and auction houses efficiently.
Facile management
User Admin Panel
Developed a comprehensive admin panel for users to manage their favorite artists, observe interesting pieces, and check archived auction results.
The team
We assembled a dedicated team for the project, including Ruby on Rails Developers, Vue.js Developers, a UX/UI Designer, a QA Engineer, and a Project Manager to ensure seamless execution and high-quality results.
Rafał Kamecki
CEO & Founder of Artinfo
I was looking for a reputable company with a high level of technological advancement. Artinfo is a market leader and a trusted institution, so we work only with the best.
These great professionals worked on this project for our client:
Karol Karpiński
Ruby on Rails Developer
Tomasz KordyÅ›
Head of Delivery
About the client
Artinfo, established in 2002 and based in Warsaw, is a leading portal in the Polish art market.
Project
Custom App Development
Industry
Art & Culture
Web
ArtinfoIt’s been a major source of information for art collectors, dealers, investors, and art lovers since 2000. The portal offers a vast archive of auction results and information on over 400,000 artworks. It acts as a broker between auction houses and art enthusiasts, facilitating online and phone-based bidding.
This extensive database reflects Artinfo's pivotal role in the Polish art community, providing valuable data on past auctions and current market trends.
I chose Naturaily because they’re professionals, and I am satisfied with this cooperation
Rafał Kamecki
CEO & Founder of Artinfo
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