Online framers reach for convenience: several online art sellers are also offering "virtual framing." Should mom-and-pop frame shops be worried about losing customers to the Web of convenience?

Art Business News, April, 2002 by Rita Kasperek

A man from Nairobi wanted a signed Sally Caldwell-Fisher print framed and delivered in time for Christmas. He ordered it online, and within two weeks, the print was under the tree.

This scenario demonstrates the two keys to success of art/framing Web sites: convenience and the ability to serve distant customers.

"We have access to a global audience," said Mike Benally, customer service representative at AllPosters.com, based in Emeryville, Calif. "That, and the fact that customers can order a framed print and have it delivered to their door, makes us different than retail framers."

Thanks to Internet technology, customers have yet another choice in how they obtain framed art. Users can choose art from thousands of posters and prints, frame their selection step by step at their desktops and have it shipped to their doorstep. The question is: What impact does this technology have on custom picture framers?

The Rise of Online Framing

Art and framing Web sites aren't exactly new; most have been up and running for roughly five to seven years, and business seems to be on the upswing.

At Art.com, daily site visitors top 100,000, with revenues reportedly increasing more than 500 percent a year. "We've had the best Christmas ever," said Amy Hilaman, public relations representative for the Raleigh, N.C.-based company.

These sites--including Art.com, AllPosters.com, and Barewalls.com, among others--claim to carry a selection of thousands of posters, art prints or photographs. They feature sophisticated search engines that allow users to search by keyword; artwork selections also are broken down into categories, from artist to subject matter to the top 100.

Other online features include gift certificates, e-mail newsletters, the ability to send a poster image as an e-mail greeting card and shopping carts, where users may choose to store orders before finalizing them.

Each site also gives customers the option of ordering their work framed and matted. However, each site varies widely in the types of framing services offered, how long the order takes to complete and how customers are educated about their order.

Art.com, for example, provides a selection of 20 metal and six wood mouldings and a small range of matting, while AllPosters.com offers seven metal and more than 50 wood mouldings. Both of these companies operate warehouses where framing is done in-house.

Barewalls.com takes a slightly different approach. Online selections are limited to a few choices of frames and mats. But, according to Kirsten Weisenburger, manager of business development, customers can obtain virtually any combination they want due to Barewalls.com's close relationship with its outsource framers.

"We've experimented with different ways to approach framing online," she said. "We finally hit on a combination that works for us. Most of our work is sent out to be framed. We maintain a close working relationship with all of our framers; we definitely have a stake in the product. And they can do virtually anything our customers want."

Each Web site also has at least one unique service. A feature at Art.com allows customers to view two suggested samples--about as close to obtaining feedback as an online consumer can get. AllPosters.com prominently offers mounting on wood in addition to dry mounting. And Barewalls.com provides canvas transfers and also offers a selection of ready-to-ship framed art.

A Question of Convenience

One clear advantage online framing has over brick-and-mortar shops is convenience. Customers can choose from a generous selection of art, and they can see how their order will look with various styles of mats and mouldings--all within a matter of minutes.

At least one site, Art.com, can ship an order (if materials are in stock) within 24 hours--including orders requiring framing, said Hilaman. Although most Web sites--including AllPosters.com and Barewalls.com--guarantee shipment in two to six weeks (more comparable to retail stores), they do offer a 24/7 shopping option that most retailers can't beat. As Hilaman said, "you can order from your desktop at any time and have the art delivered right to your door."

Convenience comes at a price. At AllPosters.com, five in-house framers turn out between 100 and 150 orders a day. With that kind of volume, framing is approached in a production-line style, according to Benally. "Online framing just doesn't offer the custom aspect that retail framers do" he said. "Customers can't work out their order with someone the way they can at a frame shop."

Retail framer Jim Eyrich, owner of Frame Shops of St. Louis, agreed. "Maybe there's a percentage of the population who doesn't care if colors don't match. But my customers want me to be exact--they even take moulding and mat samples home to make sure colors match," he said. "The way technology stands now, computer monitors and printers just don't give you a very good color match."

Barewalls.com tries to address this issue at its site in a"Frequently Asked Questions" section. Said Weisenburger: "Color is the most tricky aspect of what we do."