While there are many things to consider when you start an ecommerce business, picking the right business name is at the top of the list.
A strong brand name that reflects your business and helps you to stand out from the competition is especially important when you’re first starting out. It’ll likely be part of your domain name and splashed across your social media channels, so you’ll want to be sure that it’s impeccable.
However, coming up with ideas for what to call your ecommerce business is often anything but easy!
You want the name to accurately portray your company’s mission and product or service, leaving a lasting positive impression in the minds of customers.
A bad store name can be disastrous for a brand, but a great one can give it a priceless advantage in attracting shoppers online.
Why is it important to find the right name for your online store?
Your store name is often the first impression customers receive of your brand. It has the power to evoke emotion, and whether that emotion is positive or negative can determine the success of your ecommerce business.
In addition, what you call your online store can help convey to potential shoppers specific messages about your business.
If, for example, your ecommerce website sells athletic wear, you’ll probably want your store name to communicate a sense of strength or speed. In contrast, if you make Halloween costumes for dogs, you might choose a canine-related business name or one that has more of a fun, lighthearted tone.
Tips for choosing a name for your online store
Deciding on a name for your business is a complicated affair. It’s made even more difficult by the fact that there’s no one way to go about selecting one that’s guaranteed to bring your brand success.
Despite this, there are certain actions you can take to give your online store the best chance of achieving a positive brand image. Read on to learn about our five tips that can help you find a name that will wow you and your customers alike!
1. Choose a short name
Although you may decide to incorporate some mystery in your ecommerce shop further down the road, simplicity is key when you’re launching your store.
Keeping things straightforward is a great rule to follow with all aspects of new businesses, including their names. Rather than selecting a complicated eight-word name for your brand, go for one that’s one or two words in length and is easy to say.
Using a store name that’s short and simple is beneficial for a variety of reasons.
Customers are bombarded with new companies every day. It’ll be easier for customers to remember your business if it’s called something that’s catchy and easy to pronounce. A short-but-sweet name that fits in a single line also looks better on websites or social media and is easy to search for online.
Coming up with the perfect name for your shop may take some time and call for a bit of creativity. Consider using rhymes or alliteration, as utilized by companies such as Advance Auto Parts, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, Dunkin’ Donuts, and PayPal.
Names that are fun to say are more memorable for shoppers. This makes it more likely that they will remember the brand when they search online to find a certain service or product.
2. Pick a name that will continue to be applicable in the future
This one can be tricky, as with the initial launch of your ecommerce store, you’ll likely be focused on goals for the immediate or near future. It might be difficult to determine what you’ll want your online shop to look like a few years later.
Nevertheless, choosing a future-proof name for your company at the start can save you headaches and money in the long run!
Maybe your online store currently specializes in red shoes, so you’ve decided to call it The Ruby Slipper. However, if business starts booming, you may realize that you can offer a greater selection of goods, possibly even non-footwear items, in a couple of months.
In this case, “The Ruby Slipper” might be confusing to potential customers, especially if they search for another product of yours online.
If you find that you want to change the brand name later, you’ll also have to change the domain name and social media handles. For this reason, thinking big regarding your business and its future possibilities from the very beginning is a worthwhile aim.
3. Understand your business and what matters to your target audience
Know thyself.
Besides being an advantageous personal objective, this is essential when coming up with a name for your online store. Take another look at your business plan and be sure that you have a clear understanding of your goals and vision for the company.
It’s important to do this so that you know what you want to communicate to potential customers.
Recognizing what speaks to your target audience is another crucial part of the naming process.
Say, for example, that you sell a range of all-natural energy bars that can help people lose weight. While the word “diet” may have been popular in company or product names a few decades ago, that’s not so much the case today.
Including the word “diet” in your business name may conjure up associations with “restriction,” which may not be attractive to shoppers. You may want to opt for words such as “healthy” or “health” instead to appeal to customers seeking to improve their overall wellbeing.
4. Try a business name generator if needed
If you’re still stuck on coming up with ideas for your company, it’s not the end of the world!
Business name generators are helpful online tools that can provide you with extra inspiration if you’re struggling with what to name your business. They work by first having the user input a word or words related to their store, such as product offerings.
Next, they give a list of catchy names that combine words to reflect the nature of the business. Even if you don’t choose to go with the exact business name provided by the online generator, it may help spark some more ideas for you.
Note that ideas offered by a name generator are not necessarily available for use, which leads us to our next tip.
5. Check to see if the name is available
Once you find the perfect name for your online store via your creative mind, a name generator, or another method, your job isn’t quite finished!
You’ll want to ensure that your brilliant idea hasn’t already been taken before you sprint off to the printer’s office for business cards and marketing swag.
Determining name availability usually involves multiple steps. Diligence is important here to avoid the possibility of future lawsuits or having to brainstorm a completely new name for your business later on.
First, you can search online for what you’re hoping to call your business and see if another company’s already using it for their domain name. In addition, be sure to check with your country’s patent or trademark office for another review of who might already be utilizing the name.
Finally, take a look at different social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., to see if the business name is available there too.
You don’t technically have to use the same name across every platform when you’re setting up social media accounts for your store. However, it’s better to do so whenever possible for the sake of consistency.
Remember that maintaining a consistent presence online is especially crucial for new businesses.
Examples of excellent business names
For additional inspiration on choosing the best name for your online store, check out our list of several companies who have done well in this regard. Again, there’s no one-size-fits-all method for deciding on a name for your company.
While it’s nice to have some tips and tricks at your disposal, you must choose what works best for your individual situation. These businesses have done a great job of utilizing the points mentioned above, creating unique names that strike a chord with customers.
Farmacy Beauty
This company prides itself on offering “farm-to-face” skincare products that combine clean, natural formulas with modern science. Their cleansers, moisturizers, masks, and other items are filled with farmer-cultivated ingredients that are safe and non-toxic.
The business name cleverly merges the words “farm” and “pharmacy,” highlighting the brand’s emphasis on well-performing products that contain natural elements. Furthermore, the “Beauty” portion of their name clearly indicates to customers what type of products they sell.
The Knot
Part of the company The Knot Worldwide, this brand is a comprehensive online resource for couples’ wedding-planning needs. Taking a cue from the popular idiom “tie the knot,” which is another way to say “get married,” the brand expertly links its services with its business name. In addition, the name isn’t very long, helping customers to remember the business with ease.
Groupon
Combining the words “group” and “coupon,” this company has taken a fun approach to the naming of the business. Groupon’s website features a vast collection of coupons for shoppers to look through and use, everything from restaurants to yoga classes and more. The name communicates the basis of the business to customers perfectly.
Tripadvisor
This is another company that isn’t trying to remain an enigma with its name. Tripadvisor’s website features tons of reviews from travelers all over the world for different traveling needs, including hotels, restaurants, and activities.
The website also offers travel forums where users can discuss specific destinations or topics such as air travel, family travel, and others. This helps to build a certain level of trust, as users are being advised on facets of travel by other travelers just like them.
Snapple
Sometimes businesses start out with one name and later realize that it’s just not working. This beverage company was first known as Unadulterated Food Products, which is admittedly a bit bland as far as business names go.
They later changed the name to Snapple, which was what they called one of their products, a carbonated apple juice drink. This name has been a hit with customers, as it’s easy to say, a nod to one of their offerings, and memorable.
In the age of the internet, it’d be difficult to come across a person who had never heard of Google. It’s the world’s most popular search engine and has become so well known that it’s also used as a verb (“Why don’t you Google it?”).
However, what you may not know is that this company was originally called BackRub, since their program analyzed the web’s back links. The founders fortunately soon determined that this was not an ideal name for a tech company.
They decided to change it to Googol, a mathematical term that describes 10 raised to the power of 100. That’s a lot of zeros. The name was suggested to be indicative of the company’s aim of organizing the significant amount of information that users can find online.
In an interesting twist, when a friend of the founder was searching online to see if the domain name was available for the proposed name change, he thought it was spelled “Google.”
After registering the domain name, the founders opted to keep it as Google, despite the spelling error. It’s fun to say and is easy for users to remember, making it a perfect choice as a business name!
LEGO
Founded in Billund, Denmark, this company’s name comes from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means “play well.” It’s certainly fitting for a business that started selling wooden toys, later switching to the signature plastic bricks we know today.
It’s interesting that in Latin, “lego” also means “I play well,” but this appears to be coincidental regarding the origin of the company name. The word “LEGO” is short and easy to pronounce, a fabulous combination of traits for what to call a business.
Conclusion
Finding ideas for the perfect name for your online store can feel like an anxiety-ridden task at first. Choosing just the right one to match the vision of your brand may take longer than a couple of hours or even several days.
It requires time, reflection, and a complete understanding of your business and what your potential customers value. However, getting the name right can make a huge difference in the success of your online store.
Use our list of suggestions above to help you in the quest for selecting the ideal business name. You’ll then be able to focus on launching your ecommerce website and selling your amazing products!
If your online store is already up and running, what tactics did you use when determining what to call it? Are there any other company names that you found to be especially inspirational during your brainstorming process?
We’d love to hear all about it in the comment section below!
