Whether to make an interior design website shoppable is a question that comes up whenever a studio plans a new site. Clients already buy furnishings online, followers ask where a lamp came from, and a shop page looks like easy income. It can be. It can also quietly change what the studio is. The useful question is which kind of shopping fits the practice.
What does "shoppable" mean for a design studio?
Three arrangements are common, and they are very different amounts of work.
| Model | How it works | What it asks of you |
|---|---|---|
| Curated links | A page of favourite pieces that link out to retailers. You may earn a commission. | Taste, upkeep and honest labelling |
| Trade platform | A service such as SideDoor hosts curated collections on your own site. | Choosing collections; the platform handles the orders |
| Your own store | You take payment and send the goods. | Sales tax, shipping, returns and customer service |
Curated links are the lightest touch. A platform sits in the middle: Business of Home reported that SideDoor was built so designers could host shoppable collections on their own sites rather than watch others profit from their followings. Running your own store is a second business, with its own hours.
What does selling products change about a design practice?
Three things, and not all of them are about money.
How clients see your fee. Many clients can now buy furniture without a designer, so a site that leans on product can make the design fee look like an add-on. A site that leads with projects and a point of view keeps the fee at the centre.
How you spend your attention. Links break, items sell out and collections go stale. A shop page nobody maintains is worse than none.
What you owe. If you are paid when someone buys through your link, the FTC expects you to say so. Its Endorsement Guides FAQ says the disclosure must sit where readers see it alongside the link, and that a button labelled "Disclosure" is not enough. If you sell goods yourself, you also take on sales tax: the Maryland Comptroller sets out the registration and filing rules for sales and use tax, and a studio should check them, or ask an accountant, before opening a till.
When does a shoppable site make sense?
It tends to suit a studio that already gets asked "where is this from?" all the time, has a clear point of view that people want to borrow, and is happy to maintain a small, edited selection. It tends not to suit a studio whose clients hire it for full-service projects and rarely ask about single pieces. There, a shop dilutes the message.
If you are unsure, start with the curated page. It can be added in a day and removed just as easily, and it shows you whether visitors use it before you build anything heavier.
How should the shop sit on the site?
Not on the home page. Keep that for photography and a point of view. A quiet "Shop" or "Favourites" page, linked from the footer and from relevant project pages, lets a visitor who wants a single piece find it without crowding out the invitation to work together. Keep the enquiry form on every page, and keep the fee conversation separate. For the pages every designer's site needs, see What should an interior designer's website include?, and for how to handle fees, Should an interior designer put prices on their website?
Where Bay House fits
We design websites for interior designers, and we build a shop page, if you want one, to look like the rest of the studio rather than a template bolted on: curated, quiet and clearly labelled. Our Signature Site starts from $12,500, and every project ends in a fixed-price proposal. See our pricing or how we approach web design in Annapolis.
Common questions
What are the ways an interior designer can sell products online?
Three are common: a curated shop page with affiliate links to other retailers, a trade platform such as SideDoor that hosts shoppable collections on your site, or your own store that takes payment and fulfils orders. Each adds more income potential and more work than the last.
Do I have to disclose affiliate links on my website?
Yes. The FTC says anyone paid through affiliate links should disclose that clearly and conspicuously, close to the link. Its FAQ gives "I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post" as sample wording, and says a bare "affiliate link" label may not be understood.
Will selling products make clients take my design fee less seriously?
It can if the site looks like a shop first. Keep the portfolio and the invitation to work together at the front, and present products as part of your point of view, not as the main business.
