Helped by $200 000 invested by its partners, a Barbadian electronic commerce platform established so local artists can exhibit and sell their creations, is preparing for expansion.
Director of IartCaribbean, Antony Barker, announced the development while saying that “companies who do not embrace e-commerce as one of their development strategies may find themselves in a competitive disadvantage when the Barbados economy pulls out of the recession”.
In an update provided to BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY, the official said the venture meant that “artists in the Caribbean and beyond now have an additional sales channel in which to sell their products worldwide”.
Barker, who said he had worked with and produced several international and Caribbean e-commerce projects, said “our clients exhibit various types of artwork from photography to acrylic paintings and we have attracted considerable interest from artists from other Caribbean Islands, United States and even as far away as the United Kingdom and Asia Pacific Region”.
The director said IartCaribbean was the first e-commerce platform for artists in the Caribbean and that it currently exhibited the work of several Caribbean and international artists.
“What we seek to do is to create a platform for artists to exhibit their art at very low cost compared to a traditional art gallery and have the benefits of exhibiting to a worldwide audience and getting their art sold. We have developed several membership packages that are highly affordable to our members and our customers can purchase art in a secure environment,” he said.
“Also we have partnered with a New Zealand 3D visualiser firm in developing a virtual 3D gallery to the benefit of our clients and are currently developing other technologies for our art platform which will come on line in due course. Our partners have invested over US$100 000 in software in this venture and are confident about our success,” Barker added.
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