Online store name ideas: naming a shop people come back to
What an online store name has to do, four kinds of shop names that work, what to avoid, and a quick checkout test to run before you launch.
An online shop has no street, no window and no sign over the door. The name does all of that work: it is what people type to come back, what they search for after seeing a parcel, and what appears on every order confirmation. A good store name makes the second visit easy, and the second visit is where most shops make their money.
What an online store name has to do
- Be easy to type from memory. Returning customers type the name, so every letter has to be the one they expect.
- Fit what you sell, with room to grow. A shop that starts with one product line rarely stays with one.
- Work on a parcel and a receipt. The name will be printed on boxes, packing slips and card statements.
- Stand out on a marketplace listing. Many shops also sell on larger platforms, where the name sits beside thousands of others.
Four kinds of shop names that work
1. The shop floor
Words from a physical shop make an online one feel familiar. AisleUp uses the supermarket aisle for grocery delivery, StoreShare suits a shared retail or pop up network, and YrdSale drops one letter from yard sale for a local secondhand marketplace.
2. The thing you sell
Naming the product makes a specialist shop easy to find. Watchsa adds two letters to watch for a pre owned watch marketplace, VowBoutique reads as bridal straight away, and Devoluxe ends on luxe for bedding and linen.
3. The short brand
A short coined name is easy to fit on a box and easy to grow into. Mizze looks polished on a fragrance bottle, and Buush lands like a whoosh, which suits party supplies and anything fun to unpack.
4. The software behind the shop
Retail tools need names that shop owners trust with their stock and their customers. VendoSync suggests selling in step across stores, and Loyalti is the word loyalty with a final i, for a loyalty programme platform.
What to avoid
- Long phrases that describe everything. Names like best cheap home goods online are hard to remember and impossible to own.
- Names tied to one product if you plan to add more. A store named after its first product has to explain itself when the second arrives.
- Spellings people will get wrong. Every misspelling is a returning customer who lands somewhere else.
- Names close to a large retailer or marketplace. Big retail brands defend their names, and a lookalike can cost you your listings. How to check a company name before you commit covers the checks.
A quick checkout test
Write a pretend order email: "Thanks for your order from ___. Your parcel is on its way." Then ask a friend to type the name into a browser a day later without help. If the email reads like a shop you would buy from again and your friend types it correctly, the name will bring customers back. Last, check that the .com is available or for sale, because the address on the receipt is the one people type.
Store names for sale on Webba
Naming something in another field? Business name ideas by industry links all seventeen of these guides, and how to come up with a business name sets out the steps from a blank page to a decision.
E-commerce & retailEvery e-commerce and retail name on Webba, from online shops to retail software.