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Unique, fragile artworks. Sold and shipped online.

Arto Galleria, an online art gallery where artists sell their work, designed and built by Witify: applications, artwork listing, calculated shipping and moderated messaging.

Client
Sector
Art, online marketplace
Technologies
Craft CMS, Commerce, Vue

01 The numbers

Five numbers, and where they come from

First, the rules that keep the gallery running.

  • 10

    steps to list an artwork Parcel dimensions included, so shipping can be calculated.

  • 9

    steps for an artist’s profile The team reads it before anything goes live.

  • 4

    shipping rate sources compared Pickup, delivery by the artist and two carrier services.

  • 90d

    between two availability checks Unconfirmed after 120 days, the artwork leaves the shop.

  • 10d

    validity of a shipping quote When no rate fits, the buyer asks for a custom price.

These are rules of the platform, read in its code.

02 Application

Every artist comes in through an application

The artist fills in a profile in nine steps: biography, education, exhibitions, mediums, photos, address, delivery. The Arto team reads the application in the admin and gives it a status. Every decision goes out by email, with a comment when needed.

Fig. 01 The artist list, with statuses from pending application to live profile

03 One sale

One artwork, from listing to delivery

Four screens, four people: the artist who lists, the team that approves, the buyer who pays, the artist who ships.

01 Listing

The artist lists the artwork in ten steps

Presentation, description, price, dimensions, gallery, characteristics, keywords, prints, review, settings. At the dimensions step the artist enters the artwork’s size and the packed parcel’s, weight included: those are what shipping is calculated from.
Fig. 02 Adding an artwork, dimensions step

02 Approval

The Arto team approves or declines it

Every new artwork waits in the pending queue. The team checks the listing, files it in collections and communities, sets its priority in the shop, then approves it. A decline goes out with a message, and the screen shows which language to write to the artist in.
Fig. 03 An artwork awaiting approval, in the admin

03 Purchase

The buyer sees shipping before paying

On the artwork page, the buyer enters a postal code. The platform queries four sources (studio pickup, delivery by the artist, two carrier services) and sorts the rates. When none fits, the buyer asks for a quote, honoured for ten days.
Fig. 04 The artwork page and its shipping rates

04 Shipping

The artist accepts, packs and ships

The artist accepts the sale from their space. The team generates the label for the carrier the buyer paid for; the artist sees the carrier, the service and the tracking number, drops the parcel off, then marks the sale shipped. The buyer gets the tracking and an estimated arrival date.
Fig. 05 An accepted sale, in the artist space

04 Availability

An artwork sold elsewhere does not stay in the window

Artists also sell in their studio, in galleries, at fairs. Every 90 days, the platform asks them to confirm that each artwork is still available. One reminder goes out at 93 days, another at 100. With no answer at 120 days, the artwork leaves the shop until the artist confirms it.

Fig. 06 The artwork review, in the artist space

05 Trust

Buying an artwork without seeing it

A large canvas is rarely bought from a photo alone. Two tools reassure the buyer: seeing the artwork at home, and talking to the artist without leaving the gallery.

In room

The artwork to scale, on your own wall

The buyer uploads a photo of the room and enters the wall width: the artwork sits on it at its real size.

Messaging

Conversations stay on the platform

A message that gives an email, a website, a number or another way to pay waits for the team’s decision.

06 Our choices

Three choices that keep an online gallery standing

Three decisions mattered more than the others. For each one: the risk to avoid, what we chose, and what the client gains.

  1. A proven shop, a custom module on top.

    The risk
    Rebuilding the cart, payments, taxes and content management would have cost months before the first artwork sold.
    Our choice
    Craft CMS and Craft Commerce carry the content, the cart and payments. What makes an artists’ gallery (applications, listing, approval, shipping, messaging) lives in a module written for Arto.
    The gain
    The Arto team runs its own pages and collections, and development goes straight to the business.

  2. Each artist prices in their own currency.

    The risk
    Artists from Canada, Europe and beyond forced to think about their prices in a currency that is not theirs.
    Our choice
    The currency is part of the artist’s profile. The shop converts the price for the buyer.
    The gain
    Artists keep their bearings, buyers read a price they understand.

  3. Two languages, without retranslating everything by hand.

    The risk
    A listing written in one language speaks to only part of the visitors.
    Our choice
    The site is in French and English. In the artist’s forms, machine translation suggests the other language, which the artist reviews.
    The gain
    Artworks are presented in both languages, without waiting for a translator.

07 Under the hood

What the platform is made of

A well-known CMS and shop, and a custom module that carries the whole business of the gallery, built and maintained by Witify since 2020.

Base
Craft CMS, Craft Commerce, content, cart, orders
Business
Custom PHP module, applications, listing, approval, sales, messaging, reminders
Interface
Twig, Vue, Tailwind, artist space, in-room preview
Payments
Stripe, currencies converted for the buyer
Shipping
Two carrier APIs, rates cached for 12 hours, PDF labels
Services
Redis, Pusher, DeepL, cache, live messaging, translation

Key milestones

  1. September 2020 Open to artists Applications, artwork listing, messaging and in-room preview.
  2. October 2020 Commissions A buyer orders a custom artwork from an artist.
  3. September 2021 Calculated shipping Rates compared at checkout and carrier labels.
  4. February 2023 Artwork review Availability confirmed every 90 days, with reminders.
  5. June 2023 Moderated messaging Messages that step out of bounds wait for the team.

Thanks to the support and expertise of the technical team at Witify, Arto Galleria, our virtual art gallery, has undergone invaluable development. [...] They are more than a team of talented programmers, they have become true collaborators committed to the success of our project.

Camille Grosleau Sales Manager, Arto Galleria

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