.shop Domain Search
Check .shop domain availability and search for available .shop domain names. Use a commerce-first extension that signals buying intent and works globally for online stores and merch drops.
Country
Japan
Pricing
2 to 45 USD per year
Registrations
Approximately 1.4 to 1.5 million
Growth
High promotional churn in year one, with strong long-term retention among multi-year surviving domains
Why Choose .shop?
Instantly signals a shopping destination and purchase intent.
Short, global, and easy to remember for ads and social links.
Strong fit for separating storefront traffic from corporate or community sites.
Widely supported by major registrars and standard DNS tooling.
Works well for creator merch, drops, and limited campaigns.
Helps users trust they’re heading to an official store when paired with a known brand.
History
.shop was one of the most contested New gTLD strings and ultimately went to an ICANN Auction of Last Resort. On January 27, 2016, GMO Registry won .shop with a 41.5 million USD bid, then the TLD was delegated in May 2016 and reached General Availability in September 2016. Since launch, .shop has grown into a top-tier commerce namespace used by major brands for dedicated storefronts and by creators for merchandise.
Usage & Applications
.shop is commonly used for e-commerce storefronts, brand merchandise sites, and campaign-specific shopping destinations. It’s also used to separate “buying” experiences from corporate .com sites (e.g., streaming, media, or enterprise brands running a dedicated store).
Popular .shop Domains
Registration Info
Requirements
Open to anyone worldwide with no restrictions
Registry
GMO Registry, Inc.
Key Milestones
Frequently Asked Questions
1Why did .shop sell for a record 41.5M USD at auction?
.shop is a super-generic commerce word with global recognition, making it a “crown jewel” TLD that can be bundled with hosting, payments, and SMB tools.
2Why did Amazon and Google walk away from the .shop auction?
For them it was strategic but optional for GMO it was core infrastructure. GMO could justify a higher bid through bundling and long-term registry economics.
3How is .shop different from .com for customer intent?
.shop acts like a built-in call-to-action. Users expect a buying destination, which can boost click confidence even without any direct SEO ranking advantage.
4Why are .shop first-year prices so cheap but renewals expensive?
Registrars use loss-leader promos to drive volume, then renewals return to sustainable pricing where most revenue flows back to the registry.
5What does “super-generic” mean in the domain industry?
It’s a term for universally understood words with massive commercial demand, where the TLD itself carries strong meaning without needing explanation.
6Why does .shop have strong long-term retention after year three?
Once a store is live, indexed, and tied to payments and logistics, switching costs get high so surviving businesses renew at much higher rates.
7How did Netflix.shop change perception of the extension?
A major global brand using .shop as an official storefront normalized the TLD and proved it works for enterprise-grade commerce and brand protection.
8Why is .shop popular in Asia and parts of Europe?
“Shop” is common in UK English and a widely used loanword in Japan and Asia, so the term feels natural and globally understandable.
9Why did GMO bundle SSL with .shop registrations?
E-commerce trust depends on security. Bundled SSL reduces setup friction, improves buyer confidence, and strengthens the extension’s “safe shopping” signal.
10Why are premium .shop names often priced by the registry?
The registry holds top keywords (like category terms) and sells them as premiums so end-users not speculators capture the value through real businesses.