NEW YORK (LAPRS) – First-quarter results for LiveAuctioneers.com indicate continued forward momentum for the Manhattan-based company, which now provides Internet live-bidding services to more than 1,000 auction houses worldwide.
Quarterly statistics confirmed a dramatic upsurge in bidder signups, unique visitors and catalog page views. Additionally, there was a spike in the number of European auction houses using LiveAuctioneers.com for the first time. In particular, a flurry of requests to try LiveAuctioneers’ Internet live-bidding platform and support services was received during the first quarter from fine art auction houses in Germany.
“The word is out, and European auctioneers want the same advantages for their sales that have benefited their American counterparts for so long,” said LiveAuctioneers Sr. VP Sales Scott C. Miles. “In the first quarter, we welcomed eight new auction-house clients from Germany alone, and the trend indicates that the interest is spreading into Scandinavia, Italy and the Far East, as it continues to sweep across Germany. Right now, our growth pattern internationally is the strongest it has ever been.”
During the first quarter of 2011, there were more than 4.5 million “absolute unique” visitors to LiveAuctioneers.com, where both current and archived auction catalogs are readily available to view. This figure reflects a 92.77% increase over the comparable quarter of 2010.
There was also a sizable jump in the number of overall visits to the LiveAuctioneers site, soaring from 3.8 million in Q1 2010 to 7.1 million in Q1 2011.
“According to our research, many bidders now prefer to view auction catalogs online. It’s cost-effective, it offers an immediately available search function that is a great timesaver, and it’s a ‘green’ solution, as well,” said LiveAuctioneers CEO Julian R. Ellison. “In the first three months of this year, we recorded more than 55 million catalog page views on the site, as compared to 31.9 million in the corresponding quarter of 2010 – an increase of more than 72 percent. This is just the tip of the iceberg. On Saturday, April 9th, LiveAuctioneers.com reached a milestone when it recorded more than 1 million page views within a single 24-hour period – that’s phenomenal.”
Ellison added that a sizable flow of traffic is being redirected to LiveAuctioneers on a regular basis through search engines. “During the first quarter 2011 there were almost 4 million search-engine referrals to LiveAuctioneers – a 73.25% increase over the comparable quarter of 2010,” Ellison said. Additional statistics showed that during Q1 2011 LiveAuctioneers.com attracted 44,544 new-bidder signups.
“Our user base just keeps on growing, as does the suite of services LiveAuctioneers makes available to its auction-house partners,” said Ellison. “During the first quarter we expanded our popular in-house PR agency, LiveAuctioneers PR Services, by launching a design department. Now auctioneers who require professionally designed ads, e-newsletters, e-mail blasts or other graphic products can come to us and know that they will receive prompt, professional service.”
“Overall, these are exciting times for the LiveAuctioneers family of companies, with our greatest growth still ahead of us,” Ellison said. “We are actively reaching out to the European fine-art community and inviting auction houses there to become our partners and experience the advantages our platform and global database of quality bidders can bring to their businesses.”
Visit LiveAuctioneers online at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
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