Convelio has always championed innovation and technology. In 2017, the instant quoting and booking platform was launched, enabling access to fixed transportation rates in seconds. This tool is still unique in the art industry and has empowered over 1,600+ clients to instantly quote and book fine art shipping online.
In recent years, online art sales have surged as a result of increased digitization and online platforms. During Covid, most art businesses reprioritized digital strategy and innovation to accommodate the new reality.
Purchasing art online is similar to the general online shopping experience. There are browsing options, in-situ viewing, with dimensions and provenance information available. The user journey is smooth until hidden inconveniences come to light at checkout. Buyers are often left without viable shipping options to transport the artwork safely to its destination.
To simplify the purchasing experience, the technology from Convelio’s instant quoting platform has been transformed into an API or Widget which allows for instant quoting capabilities to be added onto any platform. It is customizable, with multiple integration options - it can be added onto a website, database, or CRM. These tools will empower both buyers and sellers, paving the way to better collaborate in the art world.
As of November 2023: the widget solution mentioned in this article has been discontinued and is no longer available as part of our services.
Convelio’s integration services allow businesses to host Convelio’s shipping services on their digital platforms. This provides the ability to streamline quoting and payment services, while automating end-to-end logistics at global scale.
The Convelio Widget is a light version of the API. The Widget is a simple tech solution that displays shipping quotes, instantly, beside artworks on your website . The Convelio Widget has a user-friendly interface that allows users to save quotes from your website and book shipments through the Convelio platform in a matter of seconds. It can be integrated within an hour, at no cost.
The Convelio API is a more advanced integration service that streamlines high-traffic, transactional websites. It allows businesses to implement instant shipping quotes directly at checkout for a seamless, click-and-buy purchasing experience.
Both services are adaptable to the wide range of clients that Convelio serves who each have specific purchase experiences, and consequently unique shipping needs. Convelio’s API and Widget have a range of features to automate end-to-end logistics services based on your criteria and capacity.
See the unique features of each integration service below:
The API provides sellers with new ways to leverage quoting and single payment services for a seamless checkout experience. The API syncs with sellers’ websites, enabling access to our full suite of logistics services. With transparent pricing and customizable shipping options, users can independently purchase artworks without sellers organizing every shipping request. The Convelio API automates complex end-to-end logistics, effectively removing these pre/post sales administrative operations.
With single payment now available at checkout, sellers can improve customer satisfaction and increase sales conversions as a result. Connecting to Convelios’ global logistics network also expands sellers’ geographical coverage and helps scale their business globally.
See how London Trade Art has integrated our API.
Offer full transparency on the final cost of an artwork , including transport. When providing fixed shipping costs at checkout - including services such as insurance - buyers will no longer receive post-sale shipping estimates.
Provide multiple shipping options such as delivery speed, white-glove delivery and insurance. See prices update in real time based on any of the selected customizable options.
Enable your clients to purchase with a single-payment transaction - including the listed price of the artwork, related shipping costs and any additional services required. After checkout, buyers will receive a shipping confirmation email and will be notified of all status updates from collection to crating, customs and final delivery.
We provide instant quotes worldwide. Occasionally clients ask for uncommon shipping requests (particular routes, oversized items, items with high commercial value), which can be outside of our algorithm’s current calculation scope.In these instances, the system will trigger a custom quote form and a dedicated customer care associate will be in touch within 30 minutes to an hour to personally fulfill the order.
The API solution is accompanied by a dashboard that allows your team to manage orders, track shipments, and access all lot-related documents (such as export declarations and invoices) in real-time. What used to take days - and multiple emails with buyers and shippers - now takes a few clicks.
Allow your clients to be automatically notified of shipment updates and milestones. These notifications eliminate shipping-related communication traditionally managed by the sellers’ business, ensuring both parties are up-to-date.
Integrating the API requires a development team within your organization, and typically takes a few weeks to complete. Setup and testing must be well executed before the Convelio tech team deploys the solution into your production environment. These technical guidelines outline our integration process. Once the License Agreement and Terms of Use have been signed by both parties, the API production keys will be sent for the official integration process.
Test shipping quotes on your staging or production environment. Compare results by testing various shipping scenarios to see how your website looks, feels and reacts. This is a key step to safely achieve the desired result before going live. You can easily test the API on our demo environment.
Although a lighter version of API, Convelios’ Widget is transformative. The Widget generates instant shipping quotes directly on artwork webpages, with customizable service options. Although single payment options are not available, the Widget balances the user experience by providing simple steps to finalize orders on the Convelio platform. This light investment automates end-to-end logistics services, while maintaining overhead costs and reducing pre/post sales administrative operations.
See how Greenhouse auctions has integrated the Convelio Widget.
Allow your buyers to generate shipping quotes in seconds while exploring your inventory online. Provide transparency on affiliated shipping costs for each artwork.
Offer customizable options included in the quoting process. Special requirements such as delivery speed, white-glove delivery and insurance are available when quoting, with the ability to modify and view updated prices in real time.
Allow your buyers to receive shipping quotes via email or the widget, and connect to Convelio’s shipping platform to book and pay in just a few clicks. After payment, our fulfillment services will keep you informed of the shipment status in real time.
Every so often clients ask for shipping requests that require particular routes, special care for oversized items or for artworks with high commercial value. These exceptions are outside of our algorithm’s current calculation scope, which will trigger a custom quote form to be completed. Convelio has an in-house Customer Care that oversees specialized shipments and will confirm your client’s custom order within a few hours.
Experience visibility on all shipment statuses and history with Convelio’s shipping dashboard. Manage shipments, documents, tracking and payments in one place. The Dashboard is a simple solution to help sellers track all generated quotes and identify shipments that have not yet been booked. The host of the Widget can access each quote created. These insights are a strong resource for client intel and follow-up.
Allow your clients to be automatically notified of shipment updates and milestones. These notifications eliminate shipping-related communication traditionally managed by the sellers’ business, ensuring both parties are up-to-date. The data that passes between our two systems are always highly protected and cannot be disseminated to maintain customer privacy.
Convelio’s widget can be adapted to your website needs with multiple integration options available. Go live in a matter of hours, by configuring and implementing a script in accordance with Convelio's technical guidelines. Convelio’s Widget integration is a small technical script that can be easily copied and pasted into the HTML code of your artworks webpages. Testing with Convelio’s Production key is simple and user friendly.
Test shipping quotes on your staging or production environment. Test various scenarios and see how your website looks, feels and reacts to safely and effectively achieve the integration before going live. You can access testing using our Widget demo environment.
The Convelio Widget is a practical solution for sellers interested in displaying shipment costs directly on their website. Integration is quick and free of charge, with no subscription fee.
The Convelio API is an advanced and customizable integration service. To tailor the plan that is best for your transactional website, we encourage you to contact our support team to learn more about API subscription options and our recommendation for your business.
Our partners have integrated the API and Widget solutions on their websites to offer better buyer experiences, increase online sales, and scale their business globally by leveraging our shipping services and pricing model.
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