The domain name Departmentstore.com has recently been listed by top domain broker Igloo.com seeking offers in excess of $3,500,000. This premium generic name is looking to join shop.com ($3.5 million) in the domain top sellers list.
The proven success of shopping comparison sites like Shopzilla (sold for $165 million in 2011) and PriceGrabber (sold for $485 million in 2005), as well as major online retailers like Amazon (market capitalization over $250 billion) and Alibaba (over $160 billion) demonstrate a strong consumer need for a simple, straightforward and easy interface when browsing and buying goods and brands.
Most of these services focus on best prices, although many users buy luxury goods and want items selected for them, as the choices are daunting. These shoppers want the best, the newest, the most fashionable with the trustworthiness and potent branding value of established department stores like Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's and Macy's.
The generic name "department store" is unusually unique to describe a shopping destination offering a variety of goods and brands. Retail spaces have many names like "shop," "shopping," "store" or "outlet" yet there is no other way to describe a large retail building with multiple departments. It is a non-interchangeable term.
Online Poll Finds 87% of Americans Favoring Department Store as Best Retail Name
An online survey among US consumers confirmed that 87% thought "Department Store" best describes a convenient single destination that provides a wide variety of high quality goods and brands, more than any other name.
The phrase "department store" is used throughout English speaking countries like North America, England, Australia, South Africa andIndia and always describes a store containing many items and brands.
As a result, the domain name comes with a built-in free association with the big name bricks-and-mortar stores familiar to consumers, while also remaining one of the category's best generic online retail domains. The combination creates extraordinary branding potential.
Department Stores date back to the 19th century and arose as a result of rising prosperity and social mobility, as destinations that combined leisure activity with shopping, cementing them as places of class and reliability. The staying power of the department store is clear from the fact that the very first recorded department store, Bennetts in Derby, England, originally founded as ironmongers in 1734, is still trading to this day.
Department stores uniquely target and are frequented by a large variety of different socio-economic and geographic segments. For instance:
- Upscale: Barneys New York, Nordstrom
- Middle-Market: Macy's, Carson Pirie Scott
- Mass-market: JC Penney, Sears
As a result, the easily memorable domain departmentstore.com reaches to a broad audience with the ability to target all socio-economic groups.
The brokers have had much interest in the domain both from established and newer sites offering multiple products, brand variety and superb customer service.
Source: Igloo.com
