A good brand name for Shopify must be brandable, niche focused, pronounceable and memorable. For the purposes of future proofing your brand for growth and scalability, the store name must be open and not product or location specific. The brand name should also be consistent across your domain, store names and social media handles.
A good brand name is your first step to building a legacy. And building a Shopify ecommerce business is no exception.
eCommerce Store Branding 101
Below we explore some elements and attributes that go into crafting a good store name for a Shopify ecommerce business.
A Good Brand Name Must Reflect Your Brand Identity
The brand/store name you settle for will be the first touchpoint between your brand and your customers.
Your name must effectively deliver an accurate sense of what your brand is about – and also articulate your brand identity. To ensure this, consider the following critical aspects.
Niche Focused Brand Names
Example: “TechTrend Haven”: This name immediately invokes images of tech enthusiasm. “TechTrend Haven” kindles a nuanced focus on technology trends and appeals directly to an audience attuned to, and with keen interest in- trends and dynamics of the world of tech.
The name effectively establishes a connection between the brand and the target audience.
Values and Mission Centric Brand Names
Example: “EcoEssentials Hub”: Embedded in the (EcoEssentials) brand name, is an assertive commitment to environmental responsibility.
Off the bat, the name indicates a strong and decisive focus on selling eco-friendly products, positioning and communicating a brand identity entrenched in values of sustainability.
This Shopify store name serves as a statement of your brand’s values, and appeals to an environmentally conscious segment of consumers who prioritize eco-friendly products and services.
Memorable and Pronounceable Brand Names
In crafting a brand name, pay attention to the important aspects of making the name memorable and pronounceable.
Aim to craft a brand name with the ability to linger in your target customers’ minds as this is crucial for brand recall and recognition.
In ensuring this, stick to the thumb rules of simplicity and clarity that I will outline below.
Simplicity and Clarity
Example: “SwiftStyles”: Simplicity is the core of this brand name. Simplicity makes the name easy to remember.
When you avoid complex phrases and jargon in the brand name to keep it simple, you are likely to create a name that is easy to remember, a name that will stick almost indelibly – in the minds of your customers.
Simple and easy to remember Shopify store brand names make for easy word of mouth referrals – making them a powerful branding asset for growing your ecommerce business.
Pronunceable Shopify Store Names
Example: “Quirk & Craft”: Pronunciation is an important part of your brand name. As a rule of thumb: a brand name should roll off the tongue, easily, effortlessly.
Take “Quirk & Craft” for example, the name is not only memorable, it is also easy to pronounce.
Again, this has a huge positive impact on aspects such as word of mouth referrals particularly where your customers want to share your store/brand with others verbally.
This is also the format of a brand name customers easily remember (store in their minds (memory)) and confidently verbalise- ultimately yielding seamless brand promotion.
Essentially, a good brand name not only captures what your brand is about, but also creates and leaves a positive impression in your customer‘s minds.
You can craft such a name by blending clarity, purpose, and memorability to foster a positive and enduring connection with your customers.
Originality
Example: “Pique Finds”: An important part of crafting a brand name is to assert ideas of novelty and the uniqueness of what your brand is and its distinct place in the market.
Brand names like “Pique Finds” assert that originality that will make your ecommerce store stand out in the often congested digital marketplace.
Running with such Shopify store names enables you to avoid generic brand terms. The example “Pique Finds” sparks interest and demands attention to leave a lasting positive impression in the mind of a customer.
The world of ecommerce is often characterised by cut throat competition, of course depending on your niche as well as target geographic market segments.
It goes a long way to aim for a brand name and image that makes it easier for your customers to recall and differentiate your brand – this will give your brand maximum mileage.
Reflect Your Brand Identity
Keep in mind that the name (brand) of your store is in essence the ambassador of your brand because it introduces customers to what your brand is about and what it sells and promotes.
Crafting a solid, good and memorable ecommerce brand name involves focusing on fundamental elements of branding and paying attention to the principles in the following section.
Avoid Transient Trends and Fads
Example: “WorldCup Express”: While there is understandable rationale for riding the wave of trends like a soccer World Cup for example, a timeless name will often outlast any fleeting fad. “WorldCup Express” may seem trendy and the in-thing pre and during a WordCup season, but what will happen to your brand when the tournament is over?
So you need to aim for a name that has longevity – something that will transcend transient events and trends and remain relevant and resonant with your target customers over the years.
Consider SEO and Domain Availability
Example: “OrganicHarbor”: Essentially, eCommerce is electronic commerce – which has evolved over the years, into digital commerce. So to succeed with a digital business, you need to be visible in the digital world.
The biggest strategies of promoting an ecommerce business are digital marketing and the foundation of everything here is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
SEO involves formatting your brand name (domain name), as well as your product pages (titles, meta tags, image titles and use of keywords in product descriptions), to enhance the visibility of your product pages on Search engines.
Key to this can be in the form of integrating relevant keywords into your brand/ domain name.
Examples could be: “organicharbour”, suggesting that your products are organic and easily making a connection with customers looking for such products, and also signalling the type of products you sell to search engines like Google, for your relevant indexing, ranking and traffic prospects.
In crafting an SEO friendly ecommerce brand name, you need to factor in keywords that your potential customers use when searching for the kind of products that you want to sell.
Aim to strike that delicate balance between creativity and SEO strategy so as to ensure that your brand is visible, discoverable and accessible across the vast cyber space.
Domain Availability
Example: “CraftyEssentials.com”: In relation to the previous subsection on SEO friendly domain names, you need to ensure that the SEO friendly brand and domain name you are aiming for is available.
Keep in mind that you want to maintain a consistent brand presence across all your assets such as domain and store name to reinforce brand cohesiveness.
This means that you should aim for a brand name that can translate seamlessly, into an online address (domain name). This will make it easier for your customers to find and remember your store.
Social Media Handles
One other area you need to check in your Shopify brand naming due diligence is the availability of the brand name you are considering across the major social media platforms.
The key guiding question here is: is the brand name you are considering unique and available for use as a social media handle?
This is crucial as it ensures that the name you want to settle for can be used consistently across your store name, domain name and social media handles.
Such consistency is what fosters cohesive branding, and makes it easier for your customers to connect with your brand across the entire digital and engagement landscape.
How to Future Proof Your Brand
To future proof your brand, you need to anticipate growth and evolution. Ask you yourself the following questions:
If your business scales and grows beyond your current market base, will your brand name be still relevant? For example, if you named your brand “HoustonGoodies”, as you were primarily targeting consumers in Houston, will this brand name work if your business grows and goes global?
To future proof your brand, settle for a brand name that is not confined to any geographic location.
Your Brand Name Must Not Be Product-Specific Either
Let’s say you start off selling auto spares in San Diego and brand your ecommerce business as “San Diego Auto Spares”, what will happen when your business grows into the entire state and perhaps goes global.
I hope you see the point, so try and stick with brand names that are open, brandable, scalable and not limited by products or location.
Branding and Legal Considerations
This is important because it determines the survival and legitimacy of your brand. You need to ensure that the brand name you settle for is legally sound and will not attract any copyright trademark contravention litigations.
Trademark Availability
What this means is that before you can finalise your Shopify store name, check for trademark availability. Settling for a name already taken up by another business can lead to legal complications.
Creativity in crafting brandable store names reduces the probability of creating a store brand name that is already being used by another business.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, crafting an effective Shopify store brand name involves a thoughtful and innovative blend of creativity, practicality, and foresight.
If you center your due diligence and creativity on these key elements, you will create a Shopify brand name that is not only unique, but that also resonates with your audience, endures and stands the test of time, while contributing to the success and recognition of your Shopify ecommerce business.
Wishing you all the best in your store name ideation!
