How do you come up with eComm Store Names?

ARE YOU STRUGGLING TO COME UP WITH STORE NAME IDEAS FOR YOUR E-COMMERCE BUSINESS?

You don’t want a boring, bland, or generic name that doesn’t speak anything about what you’re selling.

Think of Amazon, Etsy, or Shopify – all successful e-commerce stores with memorable and catchy names. Wouldn’t you want your store to stand out just like these giants?

This is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in your business’s life. Your brand name has a profound effect on your overall success in the marketplace.

Your name isn’t just the key “first impression” in the broader market world: a great name defines a brand’s direction and guides its success. Great brand names also help consumers understand where and how a brand fits into their daily life.

To inspire ideas for your brand name and set your wheels in motion, here are six types of brand names that are prevalent within eCommerce:

Type 1 | Founder Names
These are brands with the founder(s) as their namesake.

Founder naming can be used to humanize a brand. By attaching their name, the founder is telling consumers they care deeply about what they make and stand behind the quality offered.

This type of name is very prevalent in the high fashion world: think Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton.

A founder’s name aligns the brand with the vision, personality, or mastery of a unique person.

Air Jordans, anyone?

Type 2 | Symbolic Names
One of the most popular name types. Symbolic names are just that, symbols of the brand’s purpose or identity.

A great example: Amazon. It’s a platform that promises you can find anything you need, and that there’s a literal jungle of products to explore and discover.

These names use meanings and associations to shape our perception of what the brand offers.

Symbols and metaphors make particularly powerful names because they invite the consumer to think about the connection between the name’s literal meaning and what the brand does.

This little moment of insight creates an emotional connection to the brand when the customer “gets” what the brand offers.

Type 3 | Fictitious Names
These are brand names that appear to be founder names at first glance. Brands that have a human name, but aren’t actually named after a specific person.

Warby Parker is a great eComm example: one of the brand’s founders, Dave Gilboa, attended a Jack Kerouac exhibition at a local library. In one of the displayed journals, Dave found the names, Warby Pepper and Zagg Parker. As all four of the company’s founders were strongly influenced by Kerouac, they decided to combine the two names, and Warby Parker was born.

A fictitious name can give you the humanizing effect of a founder name while retaining a more open, timeless feel. When your brand name isn’t tied to the public perception of a real-life, fallible human, you can offer the same warmth without the risk.

Type 4 | Invented Names
This is a name type that uses a made-up word.

Google is the most well-known example of this.

Invented names are a strategy used to promote distinction. When they’re done right, you can create a memorable name that really stands out.

Invented names also have the strategic benefit of not carrying the burden of preconceived associations or assumptions. They’re a clean slate to build from.

This means that it can be easier for an invented name to be recognized as independent from generic categories.

Type 5 | Descriptive Names
Descriptive names simply describe what the brand does or sells.

These are names that describe the taste, aroma, feel, look, use, or appearance of a product.

These names work great when you want to emphasize one feature or facet of your product, and they can be a great tool to create clarity.

Think Vitamin Water. You know exactly what you’re getting, and how it stands out from other bottled water options.

Another advantage to a descriptive name is if you have come up with a new type of product or service. For example, BarkBox was the first subscription box of toys and treats for dogs. The exact name helped consumers understand exactly what the brand was offering without too much education.

This can help you save marketing dollars trying to explain your product or service.

Type 6 | Experiential Names
Finally, these are names that capture the experience of the brand.

They’re like a mini brand promise you make to consumers of how they’ll feel if they choose your products.

Experiential names are evocative, and they take you on a journey. They’re especially powerful for brands that want customers to associate their products with the feeling the brand represents.

For example, Burrow is a “couch in a box” brand. Their name suggests the comfort and security of nesting in one of their couches.

Hopefully, these name types have given you some inspiration!