Radix, the Portfolio Registry behind .online, .tech, .space announced the launch of another powerful extension from their product suite—.store. The new gTLD entered Sunrise yesterday and opened its doors to brands that are in the trademark clearing house.

.store is the first extension focused on the trillion dollar e-commerce market and a vital one for brands, especially the ones in retail business. Research compiled by the Intelligence Group suggests 72% millenials research their options online before visiting a store and 71% believe they will get a better deal online than in physical stores. With customers leaning towards online purchases vs. in-store purchases and the steady growth of the e-commerce market .store presents a massive opportunity for the domain industry.

Radix also shared that prior to the launch, several brand and IP focused Registrars had started to receive pre-orders for .store, with early interest in category-killer, premium domain names as well. On Day 1 of Sunrise itself, .store garnered 150+ requests from brands ranging across product categories like gameofthrones, chopard, nike, walmart, nivea, apple, google etc. Several leading brands out there already use the term ‘store’ in their existing URL in multiple ways like, Fitbit.com/store, microsoftstore.com, store.nba.com and the TLD can be a natural fit for brands such as these.

Radix envisions users, especially established brands using the newly launched extension .store to take their customers directly to their online store. The TLD can also become a great marketing tool and serve as a short and memorable Call-to-Action in marketing campaigns. A .store domain (used for its online store) can complement a brand’s existing generic domain (.com/.online) which is usually used for their corporate site.

Given the nature of the TLD, brands conscious about counterfeit and phishing threats can use this phase to secure their trademark. While the Sunrise phase will attract primarily established brands, mom & pop shops, small businesses and start-ups venturing in the e-commerce arena are also a key audience for the TLD.

Sandeep Ramchandani, VP & Business Head of Radix said “.store is without doubt, one of the most promising products in the Radix suite. I think we’re at a point where more and more companies, both big and small, are becoming more open about their domain name choices. We want .store to be at the top of the list for all those who are looking to set-up an online store.”

The Sunrise for .store runs until 5th June, which will be followed by an Early Access Phase. General Availability for .store starts on 14th June. Leading retail registrars like GoDaddy, UnitedDomains, 101Domains have already started accepted pre-registrations for the TLD.