Skinner attracts top consignments and commands record-breaking prices in the international auction marketplace.
With renowned expertise and extraordinary service, Skinner is the place for people looking to buy and sell fine objects of value.
Auction Platform
Project Overview
Founded over four decades ago, Skinner has grown over the years to become an established auction house that champions the works of art from all eras and mediums. Besides conducting in-house auctions in Boston, Massachusetts, Maine, Marlborough, New York, and Florida, Skinner also offers all the benefits of buying and selling by auction to a variety of collectors, art enthusiasts, and private buyers worldwide through the SkinnerLive! real-time, online bidding service. Specialist categories include the fine and decorative arts, jewelry, modern design, musical instruments, science and technology, wine, and many others.
Initially, the benefits of transitioning to online auctions were falling short of expected results; for example, online auctions were not mirroring the behaviors of physical auctions, the site was experiencing conversion issues as visitors were bouncing off at a high rate, etc. All these led to an incorrect portrayal of Skinner’s reputation for making the auction a joyful, welcoming experience of connecting online collectors with their favorite artists and artwork. To make it much easier for users to both list and rent items they owned as well as to unify their brand under one cohesive site, Skinner partnered with Grove86 to provide the latest technology behind their digital platform, migrating from their previous provider. The aim was to create an exceptional user experience for buyers and sellers based on available data.
After the discovery session, our team of experts made a thorough analysis of existing competitors to create a mood board that supplied us with a summary of all things that were working on the websites of the competitors and also the aesthetics to be used for the new site. This was followed by prioritizing our UX design strategy for Skinner and wireframe creation. Once the site structure was created through wireframe, our development team used the best practices for developing the Skinner site to create a bloat-free website.
We kicked off the digital marketing campaign with a detailed competitor analysis to refine Skinner’s niche as well as design compelling copy by identifying visitors' problems and providing a satisfactory solution. We also created client-leveraged influencer content, including press releases.
The multipronged approach of the Grove86 team breathed serious life into Skinner’s metrics and is the key to helping the business gain traction. The remodeled website created opportunities for Skinner to reach a broader audience without geographical limitations, including the creation of a mid-value auction market, enabling Skinner to maximize their savings while still increasing their offerings.