The e-commerce revolution has snuck up on the interior design industry. Here’s how to get into the game.

Five years ago, it was rare—almost newsworthy—for a designer to sell something online. Now, designers sell everything from pillows, rugs and fabrics to matchboxes, ring lights and hedge clippers through digital channels. These days, it’s strange not to encounter that telltale “shop” button in the upper right-hand corner of a firm’s website. What changed?

There are three reasons why e-commerce is suddenly everywhere in the design industry. One is technological, one is cultural, and one is obvious. To start with the tech: In the aughts and early 2010s, even if designers wanted to sell things online, it was expensive and complicated. You had to hire a well-paid web designer to create the most basic portfolio website. Add in the need for a shopping cart, credit card processing, inventory management and the like, and back then, it could easily cost tens of thousands of dollars to set up even a simple e-commerce operation.