Since 2014, hundreds of new domain extensions have launched. From .bank to .autos to .pharmacy, virtually every industry now has its own specific extension. Furthermore, there are dozens of generic extensions such as .online, .website, .click, and .social. Even with all of these new launches, there has been a lack of new extensions for the retail and e-commerce sector. Until now. Between April – July 2016, three new extensions are launching for the e-commerce market - .shop, .shopping and .store.

These three extensions are ideal for any company – large or small, online or offline, B2B or B2C, product or service based – to create a unique and memorable online shopping destination.

Now is the time for any retailer to evaluate their online marketing strategies and consider how these new extensions can be utilized. If the extensions do not fit into the current strategy, core trademarks should still be secured within all three extensions for defensive purposes.

So far, .SHOP has created the most buzz out of the three extensions. In January 2016, GMO Registry outbid six other companies, including tech giants Amazon and Google, for the rights to manage .SHOP. GMO paid $41.5 million for .SHOP, making it the highest price tag for a new gTLD to date. This purchase prices reflects the high expectations for this extension due to the magnitude of the e-commerce market.

Below are launch details for all three new extensions. If you are interested in securing domain names within .store, .shop or .shopping email us at [email protected]. We will help you create a strategy that is tailed to your business needs.

.STORE
General Availability – 14 June 2016 – onward
Additional details, including annual fees, can be found here: http://www.lexsynergy.com/tlds/store

.SHOP
Sunrise – 30 June 2016 – 29 August 2016
Early Access Period – 1 September 2016 – 26 September 2016
General Availability – 26 September 2016
Additional details, including annual fees, can be found here: http://www.lexsynergy.com/tlds/shop

.SHOPPING
Sunrise – 19 July 2016 – 17 September 2016
Early Access Program – 21 September 2016 – 28 September 2016
General Availability – 28 September 2016
Additional details, including annual fees, can be found here: http://www.lexsynergy.com/tlds/shopping