New Top Level Domain .shop Opens for Advance Registration
.shop Sunrise Phase Closes with 1,182 Applications from Trademark Holders

Tokyo, Japan – September 1, 2016 -- GMO Internet Group company, GMO Registry today announces that new top level domain, .shop (http://get.shop ) opens its doors to the general public for the first time today in a special advance registration Early Access Program. The .shop Early Access Program runs from September 1, to September 26 and provides first pick from among the vast opportunities for intuitive and memorable domain names for online and offline shops.

Earlier this week, the .shop Sunrise, a phase open exclusively to trademark holders, closed with 1,182 applications, making it one of the most successful new top level domain Sunrises to date (source: https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/reviews/cct/rpm ). Some of the world’s biggest ecommerce and retail brands were registered during the Sunrise phase, with applications for names including etsy.shop, walmart.shop, gucci.shop, samsung.shop, uber.shop, and facebook.shop.

At the same time, this week GMO Registry is also proud to introduce the first of the .shop pioneers, ecommerce software provider, ePages. .shop pioneers are companies who recognize the value of a .shop domain and will be among the first to setup shop in the .shop namespace. Says GMO Registry CEO, Hiro Tsukahara, “We are proud to have ecommerce industry leaders pioneering the .shop domain space and are excited to work together to define and grow the .shop brand.”

ePages, the international cloud-driven ecommerce software provider is assigning ePages.shop to its blog for retail news, resources and advice. Richard Stevenson, Head of Corporate Communications for ePages, comments, “It is both pleasing and opportune to be a pioneer for the exciting new .shop domain. The wider aspects of online identity that nTLDs can deliver are liberating, and .shop offers all those across the diverse world of ecommerce a boost to visibility, branding and relevance. ePages.shop is the ideal identity for our educative and popular blog for online merchants”.

For details on how to participate in the .shop Early Access Program or to find a .shop accredited registrar please visit http://get.shop.

About .shop
.shop is a domain name for all online and offline shops. Short, intuitive, memorable and universally understood, Internet users will instantly identify a .shop website as a place to shop. The word “shop” is recognized and understood in many languages and cultures around the world, and with this broad appeal, .shop aims to become the global home of ecommerce.

About GMO Registry
GMO Registry is a domain registry services operator based in Tokyo, Japan. Established in 2009 with a vision to secure meaningful and trusted namespace for ecommerce, the company acquired .shop in a $41.5 million ICANN auction in January 2016.
Today GMO Registry operates more than 40 Top Level Domains including .tokyo and GeoTLDs representing major Japanese cities, while global brands including Canon and Hitachi have chosen GMO Registry as a technology partner to build exclusive branded namespaces under their own top level domain. For more information please visit http://www.gmoregistry.com/en.

About GMO Internet Group
GMO Internet Group is an Internet services industry leader, developing and operating Japan’s most widely used domain, hosting & cloud, ecommerce, security, and payment solutions. The Group also comprises the world’s largest online FX trading platform, as well as online advertising, Internet media, and mobile entertainment products. GMO Internet, Inc. (TSE: 9449) is publicly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. 

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