After industries such as music and publishing were severely disrupted by online competitors, art auctioneers found themselves facing two options: to either integrate digital practices into their operations, or lose additional chunks of the market to electronic retailers such as Amazon.com Inc.

The e-commerce giant edged into the fine art world by launching Amazon Art on Aug 6, an online shopping experience which features a variety of artworks from more than 150 galleries and 4,500 artists across the world. And some transactions have crossed the million-dollar threshold.

In an interview with Fortune magazine Christie's Chief Executive Officer Steven Murphy said that he takes Amazon's move seriously, and that it is a "major event" - one that causes some concern.