In order to expand the product market with its partners, Amazon has launched an online art gallery with over 40,000 items. Amazon stated that these pieces are created by more than 4,500 artists and provided by over 150 art galleries and dealers. They include artworks affordable for the general public as well as masterpieces worth millions.
Amazon's online art gallery consolidates the previously fragmented online art market of smaller shops. Its search results can be refined into specific artworks, styles, sizes, color usage, prices, and which art gallery they come from.
Some of the merchants collaborating with Amazon are also making their first attempt at entering the online art trading market. For example, UGallery, founded in 2006, has been trying to showcase original artworks from different galleries in a centralized online venue. UGallery is now a partner of Amazon Art. Although the company still sells artworks directly through its own website platform, this collaboration with Amazon will allow it to reach a larger customer base.
UGallery has also provided some very interesting data about online art: According to the Hiscox Online Art Trade Report in 2013, 71% of art collectors buy art online. Although e-commerce giants initially seemed hesitant about the online trading of works by major artists, Amazon eventually recognized the potential market value of buying and selling art online and included this emerging market in the company's business growth strategy.