For many design studios, e-commerce is a natural next step when looking to diversify revenue streams. As a studio’s follower base builds, integrating an online store into a service-based website can be very strategic. And while we always encourage designers to grow and innovate their business models, there are some logistical challenges of e-commerce to consider.
As Lauren Liess mentioned on The Interior Collective podcast, having reliable shipping teams in place is absolutely key. Additionally, during an interview with Shea McGee, she emphasized how expanding into e-commerce requires honestly assessing your bandwidth upfront.
For those ready to make the leap, we’ve put together a designer’s guide to selling products, including several shop-friendly website templates to help get you started.
Shoppe Amber Interiors | Photography by Jess Isaac
A Designer's Guide to Selling Products
Consider Your Platform
While brick-and-mortar shops are making a slow comeback, the majority of designers begin with an online shop. We encourage many of our clients at IDCO Studio to use Wix as their hosting site. Wix makes it simple to transition your site from an incredible, intuitive portfolio to an easy-to-maintain e-commerce site. Even with a smaller inventory, you can create discount codes, generate newsletters, accept payments, track inventory, handle shipping and taxes, and run promotions all within the dashboard. Shopify is another excellent platform geared toward high-volume sales. Spend time checking out all the options to find what works best for you.
Establish Trade Accounts
We’re adamant about the value of trade accounts, especially when expanding into e-commerce. The process sounds complicated, but it only involves showing your business license and completing a couple of applications. As you shop for trade vendors, confirm if they allow e-commerce for interior designers. Most of them will! You’ll be assigned a sales rep (usually by region) who will be your point of contact for all orders moving forward.
Create an Inventory Plan
Once your trade vendor accounts are in place, ask about order minimums and reorder minimums, which will vary from vendor to vendor. Most range from $500-$1500, but the reorder minimums should be much lower. Some vendors might not have a reorder minimum at all.
Another critical question for your trade vendors is per-item minimums. Depending on how products are packaged, items might come in multiples of 2, 4, 6, or even 12. We recommend starting small with inventory numbers and focusing on growing your inventory range. In the early stages, it’s more important that your store looks fully stocked and offers multiple purchase opportunities than to have large quantities on hand. You want clients coming back for more and checking in for new products regularly. A shop featuring only a handful of products can be a disincentive for repeat visits.
Act as Quality Control
You want to curate products that fit your aesthetic, but what’s even more important is that the products you do sell are designed to last. It only takes one unfortunate purchase for a client not to return or leave a negative review. Online shops should be meticulously crafted and curated so that customers know when they buy from your selection, it will be a quality purchase every time. Stock products you love, believe in, and ultimately want to be associated with your brand.
Write SEO-Rich Descriptions
Copywriting your product descriptions is an important part of setting up shop. You’ll need engaging descriptions for each piece of inventory, and you’ll want to write those with search engines in mind. Ask yourself what someone searching for that particular product would type into their search bar and try to incorporate those terms in a natural way.
Use Clean Product Shots
We recommend opting for product shots on a simple, clutter-free background for a seamless shopping experience. In addition, make sure also to shoot a few professional-styled images featuring your shop products to share on social media. This is a great way to cross-promote your pieces using the “Shop the Look” feature!
Research Payment Options
Once you have your inventory loaded and the shipping plan established, you will need to connect to your preferred payment processor. We like to use Stripe, Square, or Paypal, and have found those to be great options. We also highly recommend publishing your return policy directly on your website and don’t forget to include a privacy policy while you’re at it.
Get Your Website E-Commerce Ready
Here’s where our expertise comes into play. We’ve designed a collection of website templates that make expanding to e-commerce easier than ever. With the assistance of our implementation team, online shops can be integrated into any of our website templates for a seamless experience. In addition, we also offer custom website design for more robust e-commerce offerings. We’ve worked with clients like One Affirmation, TLD Curated, and reDesign home, just to name a few, bringing their products to clients worldwide.
If you already have an established brand and following, opening an online shop is a great way to expand your offerings and grow your business. We can’t wait to see the beautiful goods being sold on both our templates and custom websites–reach out to get started.