After a smashing launch day for .SHOP on Monday, September 26th, 2016, United Domains emerged as the world leader for total .SHOP domains registered. Some 82 percent of all .SHOP domain names pre-ordered through United Domains’ pre-registration were converted to successful domain registrations.
This achievement cements United Domains’ status as a world leader for new domain extensions.
1 million .SHOP domain registrations anticipated in first year
“We expect to see a rush for the most attractive domain names under the .SHOP domain extension,” says Florian Huber, CEO of united-domains AG.
In the same vein, the registry for the .SHOP domain extension GMO Registry is confident that .SHOP will close out its first year with 1 million domains registered.
“Just as we associate addresses like Rodeo Drive in LA or the Avenue des Champs Elysées in Paris with shopping, we are aiming for .SHOP become the ultimate destination to shop online,” explained GMO Registry CEO Hiro Tsukahara in a recent interview.
A long-awaited new domain extension
The all-new .SHOP domain extension is ideal for services in the growing ecommerce industry, and allows tailor-made, relevant web addresses like “www.zalando.shop”, “www.ebook.shop”, or “www.yoga.shop”.
The annual registration fee for standard .SHOP domains is just $49 per year, and .SHOP works with any website — even those that already have an associated domain name. Included in every domain registration is free email forwarding, URL forwarding, DNS management, and access to Web Apps, which makes it easy to connect a .SHOP domain to a website or email host.
New domain extensions like .SHOP have been gradually entering the market since February 2014 thanks to ICANN, an non-profit managing the Internet’s many names and numbers. Whereas short, attractive and available .COM and .NET domains are often tough to find without having to pay a high markup on the domain aftermarket, new gTLDs open up a new landscape of distinct and relevant naming possibilities. Within the next few months, the new all-purpose .WEB is also expected make its long-awaited debut.
