The Conseil des ventes volontaires has recently published its annual report of France’s auction market for the year 2019. After a record year, iDealwine has consolidated its place as the top auction house for wine in France, as well as taking first place in the ranking of online auction houses for the ‘Art and collectors’ items’ sector.
The overall auction market in France grew by 12% in 2019, with the ‘Art and collectors’ items’ sector progressing by 10.5% and representing 46% of total auction sales.
iDealwine largely dominates the wine and alcohol market
In 2019, the total auction sales for wine and alcohol came to a total of €47M (compared to €46M in 2018, +2%), out of a sum of €1.56 billion for the ‘Art and collectors items’ sector.
In their analysis of this sector, the CVV explains: “As we saw in the three, preceding years, the dynamic of this particularly speciality rests largely on the market leader, International Wine Auction, which sells exclusively online and whose sales total amounted to €17.6M in 2019, with over 80,000 lots sold (around 170,000 bottles). This is compared to a sales total of €14.3M in 2018, making this a growth of +23%.” If last year iDealwine represented ‘just’ 31% of the market, this year we’ve hit 37% – and it goes without saying that we’re very proud of that!
This means that, through our subsidiary IWA, iDealwine has taken first place in France’s ranking of wine auction houses for the 5th year running, as well as 12th place in the top 20 auction houses for the ‘Art and collectors’ item’ sector, a clear progression compared to 2018 (18th place).
But it wouldn’t be like us to rest on our laurels, so we’re thinking big and looking ahead – the next step is hopefully to make it to the top 20 ranking of auction houses all sectors included. Check in next year to see if we hit our target…
As you can see, when it comes to reselling your wine, we knock the competition out of the park! We have plenty of information about the process on our site and are looking forward to you joining our community of wine enthusiasts!
Leading online auctioneer in ‘Art and collectors’ items’, a dynamic corner of the market
In 2019, the proportion of auctions carried out online grew by 36% (€1,224M), revealing a huge shift. However, this digitalisation of the auction market largely concerns the vehicle and industrial materials sector, this being highly standardised. As for Art and collectors’ items, this is an especially traditional market that has taken its time in embracing modernity and moving online. Only €233M of sales were recorded as occurring online in this sector, out of a total od €1.56 billion. Whilst the market has been adapting for a few years now, with in-person auctions being held alongside online sales, very few auction houses have invested in a totally online presence.
The CVV report explains: “The top 4 auction houses make up 70% of total online sales. International Wine Auction remains at the top with a total of over €17.6M in 2019, an increase of 22.6% on the previous year due to growth in both volume (+18%) and value (+5%). Wine therefore remains the highest-selling category online in 2019. Its business model is based on a large selection (over 60,000 references), a broad price range from a few euros to several thousand per bottle, extensive online marketing presence (blogs, newsletters, personalised alerts) and services to enrich client relations (fixed price sales, cellar evaluation…).”
Since 2015, the sector’s total sales have been steadily increasing, from 20 million in 2017 to 35 million in 2019. Yet whilst the market has seen a progression, sales totals as part of the ‘Art and collectors’ items’ sector should, according to the CVV, remain somewhat limited in the short term (2% of total sales in 2019).
A position that the recent Covid-19 crisis nevertheless brings into perspective. Cyrille Jomand, CEO of iDealwine, explains: “The confinement period and the inability to hold auctions in person have accelerated the transformation of the auction market, reinforcing the position of those already established in the online industry. In this context, iDealwine has validated the pertinence of its business model which is totally geared towards holding auctions through an online platform. Eventually, the company, which is already well-established with a global clientele from 60 countries, should solidify its position as a leader in the market for wine auctions.”
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