Beyond the Canvas: The E-Commerce Expansion of Berenson Fine Art
Emilia Ianeva, the founder of Berenson Fine Art, wanted to expand her gallery's reach beyond Toronto. Through the CDAP program, she gained the confidence and resources to showcase her gallery with a new online store.
Berenson Fine Art is a gallery for contemporary, Canadian, and international art, based in Toronto. Founder Emilia Ianeva shares that her main inspiration for starting Berenson Fine Art was the work of her husband, the great Marco Sassone. The gallery proudly operates both one-person and group exhibitions for selected contemporary artists. With 25 years of experience in government and cultural institutions, Emilia has built an acclaimed reputation for bringing modern masters to public reach. She also offers consultations with clients who are starting, expanding or selling their collections.
Emilia wanted to expand her gallery's reach and resources into the digital world. Her vision was to enhance the gallery’s existing website with a sophisticated and easy-to-use online shop for customers to purchase works of exhibiting artists. Emilia also wanted the guidance and resources to sustain this new venture herself, long-term. That's when decided to apply for the Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP).
CDAP supports small businesses, like Berenson Fine Art, by connecting them with an E-Commerce Advisor to develop a digital adoption plan and learn more about e-commerce solutions for their business. Upon being accepted into the program, small businesses also receive access to a microgrant of up to $2400 to help with costs related to adopting these e-commerce solutions to help grow their business.
With the support of her E-commerce Advisor, Emiliea learned about the latest e-commerce industry practices and was informed with how she could utilize the micro-grant to directly fund the implementation of her online store. The E-commerce Advisor also educated Emiliea on the importance of cybersecurity to protect not only her gallery’s online platform but also to strengthen the trust of her future online customers. Any questions or concerns that she had, in the beginning, were alleviated with the expertise of her E-commerce Advisor.
“The program support was excellent and prompt. They were there each step of the way. Very professional and kind” , shares Emiliea.
Thanks to the CDAP program’s support and grant, Emilia successfully launched an online store for her gallery. Through this new addition, she was able to expand her gallery’s services and further showcase and sell artists’ work to art enthusiasts globally.
If you are looking to experience a collection of incredible contemporary art, check out Berenson Fine Art Gallery! And keep up to date with them digitally on Facebook.
To learn more about the CDAP program, please visit here.
Digital Main Street was created by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. DMS is also supported by a group of strategic business partners, including Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Meta, Intuit QuickBooks, Square, Lightspeed, Ebay and Canada Post.
As part of the Canada Digital Adoption Program, the Government of Canada has partnered with Digital Main Street to deliver the Grow Your Business Online grant to small businesses in Ontario. The program offers eligible business owners a micro-grant of up to $2,400 to help with the costs related to implementing an e-commerce strategy and hands-on support from a network of E-commerce Advisors.
