The Web is Your Canvas: Skot MacDougall’s Artistic Journey Into eCommerce

Skot MacDougall is an award-winning contemporary artist who has been creating and selling fine art for decades.  Skot is a self-taught painter, who, rather than seek post-secondary art education, chose to pursue a natural progression of his skills through application. His company, Skot MacDougall Artwork, otherwise known as Skotart, offers original nature-inspired expressionist paintings for pick-up and delivery directly from his studio in Sarnia, Ontario.   

Skot saw the potential and opportunity that was available in the e-commerce space, and, with the help of the ShopHERE powered by Google program’s mentoring resources, sought to bring his artwork online and direct to the consumer. 

“I have been selling my fine art for decades however I have needed to supplement income thru commercial art projects, being the limited audience my fine art receives in my small town local area. With a online site I hope to reach a broader audience so I may focus all my time on defining my art.”, shares Skot. 

The initial dive into online operations can be especially daunting for small business owners. To lessen the stress on entrepreneurs, the ShopHERE powered by Google program provides free 1-1 support to build an online store. Each business owner is paired with a dedicated e-commerce coordinator who can answer questions, and help launch their online presence. 

“This is a new venture in reaching a larger, unknown audience for my artwork; with wonderful tools to present my work, a trusted payment platform and a portal of reviews of purchased work. With these added elements, I hope to establish the trust needed to expand the sales of my artwork to a broader audience (across North America).”

Through the ShopHERE program, Skot explains that with the launch of his new online storefront on Shopify, he is now able to share his work efficiently and conveniently. Skot shares that with an online presence, he can now connect with an audience looking for art- allowing him to reach the eyes of people who don't know he exists yet. 

“The challenge is to gain the trust of new clients from outside my area without them seeing the paintings firsthand, but through reviews and media content I hope to communicate the true essence of my artwork enough to inspire them to purchase directly from an artist.”   

Regarding his experience with the process of getting an online store set up with ShopHERE, Skot had this to say:  

“With time and effort all things became possible, I committed to learning all the aspects of selling online and understanding the e-commerce platform tools at hand. At first, the new tools and language had a bit of a learning curve but, through (the program) it's made it all easy and clear. I see it as a good investment of my time and energy to learn new things for a new age of commerce, quickly expanding into an online presence.”

When asked about his confidence in managing his online store moving forward, Skot stated:   

“These are new experiences online for me, selling online directly to new clients, and with the online tutorials and community to help, I feel confident something good will happen.

Speaking directly to other business owners who may be hesitant to approach the world of eCommerce through the ShopHERE powered by Google program, Skot said:  

“Don’t get overwhelmed with all the information, new languages and things to understand on these platforms. Take it step-by-step. Do your research… Take notes, ask questions, and follow up on those questions. Everything is there to help if you just ask or inquire. ”

 To learn more about Skot MacDougall Artwork (@SkotArt), visit his website and Facebook. 

To learn more about the ShopHERE powered by Google Program, visit here.