There are a growing number of online platforms where entrepreneurs who are interested in selling their goods and services online can leverage to reach out to a wide range of customers and one of such online platforms is Shopify.
Interestingly, Shopify is one of the leaders when it comes to giving online retailers a global platform to sell their goods. In Shopify, you can open your online retail store and then sell your goods under their platform with very minimal stress on your part.
This is so because Shopify will provide you with all the needed tools to make your sales smooth and seamless. They will provide you with data security, a secured online payment and shipping platform, and how you can easily organize and manage your online store.
With these great offers and many more, it is not strange that many online retailers would prefer to open their online stores under Shopify hence it is common to find out that your registered store name might have been taken before you open your Shopify Store.
Now, if it happens that your registered business name is already taken on Shopify and you don’t know what to do because you are seriously interested in opening an online store in Shopify, then you are reading the right article.
4 Steps to Take If Your Store Name is Already Taken on Shopify
1. Talk to The Owner of the Shopify Space Under Your Business Name
This is how Shopify works, any name can be used to open an online store in Shopify, meaning that the name may not be a registered business name. The fact that your business name is registered and active means that you own the name legally.
So what you need to do in this instance is to first find out if the name is still active. If the name is inactive, you can go ahead and make use of the name. Please note that some people just like playing online and may want to use a business name they have seen to open an online store just for the fun of it and then abandon it later.
But if you conduct your due diligence and find out that the name is still active, you may want to reach out to the person that opened the online store with your registered business name to negotiate with them. If the business name means a lot to you, you should go all out to negotiate reasonably.
If the person agrees to release the name to you, then you can go ahead to legally open an online store with your business name on Shopify. If the person refuses to let go of the name, then you should proceed to the next options which are;
2. Tweak The Domain Name of the Online Store
One of the options you have is to tweak the domain name of the online store since the person refuses to let go of the name.
For example, if your registered business name is Profitable Stores®, Inc. and you found out that someone is already using profitablestores.com in Shopify, then you can either opt for profitablestores.org or profitablestores.net, or you can even remove the “s” from the stores and use profitablestore.com.
With that, it will be easier to still maintain your registered business name and still have an online store under Shopify. But note that you may have to spend more on branding and promoting your new online store so that people will not get confused when searching for your store under Shopify.
3. You Can Play with Similar Names
Another option you have when someone has already taken your registered business name in Shopify is to play around with your registered business name.
For example, if your registered business name is Joy Cosmetics Store, LLC and someone already has joycosmeticsstore.com on the Shopify platform, all you need to do if you still want to use the .com domain name is to change your own name to joycosmetcisonlinestore.com.
Again, you may have to spend more on publicity so that your customers and potential customers may not be confused when they go online to search for your online store in Shopify.
4. Speak to a Business Lawyer
Lastly, if you are concerned that the person that opened an online store with your business name might be doing that with an ulterior motive, you may want to speak with a business lawyer who can advise you on the legal steps to take. This is very important because it is not morally right for someone to use an existing business name for their online store since they are not the owner of the business name.
Although there are no restrictions when it comes to what name anyone can use to open an online store in Shopify, but if your lawyer knows the angle to argue the case from, you might just be lucky and win the case.
In conclusion,
Abandoning your dream of owning an online store on the Shopify platform simply because someone is already using your registered business name is not an option. If you are serious about selling your goods and services in one of the top eCommerce platforms (Shopify) in the world, then you should take action and follow through on the advice given in this article.