There’s a pretty active thread on Twitter discussing the domain name rebranding of a company called Supply. The company had been using the GetSupply.com domain name for its business, but it just announced it changed its url to Supply.CO. The founder of the company indicated this was a difficult decision to make that took nearly two years:
Today, we (very reluctantly) changed our domain name from https://t.co/zLLRi5vCCK to https://t.co/UR81rxbBu2. I've been sitting on this decision for literally two years.
Whatever SEO issues it causes, it will forever be worth it to not be called Get Supply anymore.
— Patrick Coddou (@soundslikecanoe) October 16, 2019
Peter Askew called this tweet to my attention, and it looks like quite a few domain industry participants have shared their thoughts about the rebrand.
I don’t know enough about the company or their current situation to give an informed opinion on this, but I do think it is difficult to have a one word brand name and not have the matching .com domain name. It may be even more challenging when there is a different company with the same brand name using the brand match .com, as is the case with Supply.com.
Feel free to share your thoughts here or directly within the Twitter thread.
They should be forwarding Supply.co to GetSupply.com instead IMO.
You should NEVER downgrade from a .COM IMO
DollarShaveClub.com doesn’t need to downgrade to .CO, neither did GetSupply.com
Classic example of a three word domain being absolutely spectacular and much better than many shorter ones.
Better for their brand, but not really much (or any) value for that domain name if there was no brand.
You’re part right and part not exactly. Yes, there is no value for that domain by itself. But the value does not arise in the presence of the brand, but rather based on what their business is and does. It’s an important distinction. And based on their business, a phrase like “Dollar Shave Club” is absolutely killer in the extreme and invaluable.
When I sat down to dinner with this friend of mine I alluded to below and listened to her describe what she thought she wanted to do with her life after leaving a job she hated, I knew right away the “brand” I had in mind was absolutely killer in the extreme. I had even almost regged it myself previously and had more or less forgotten all about it because by itself it was not a domain worth registering. But based on what she intended to do it was exceedingly great.
Threads like this are often a good exercise for me.
I’ve been discovering even more really great two word .com’s for the topic that are definitely too good to share and frankly tempting to register myself. More than my last comment below.
The proof is in the pudding. Put simply, a great domain registration is only great if you can sell it. Hopefully that is happening for you, and then you’ll know you are on the money.
Well I guess that’s where we would diverge. You are taking a pure domainer-only position and I’m looking at it from the end user perspective. I’m saying that a domain can definitely be great and really is great if it can truly help propel a business to successful heights even if it normally is not the kind of domain that could easily just sell for a good price by itself. I don’t believe anyone being honest about it would deny that about a domain like DollarShaveClub.com for instance or disagree that it is exactly that in every way.
The company should of bought a better .COM domain name in the first place.
They wanted a brand-matching domain so forwarding to GetSupply.com would not help.
I think switching to a brand-matching domain should not be called a downgrade. I would call it an upgrade.
DollarShaveClub.com already is a brand-matching domain. It doesn’t need to be replaced with .co.
You can’t have a brand matching domain without owning a .com. It becomes another multiple word domain because the “.co” part needs to be emphasised.
It is not like .com where the extension can be forgotten and people will assume it. Either the start of the domain isn’t right, or end isn’t right, or you spend a lot of money on the .com. There isn’t any shortcuts.
…, in your humble opinion.
they sell razors and call themselves supply, lacks imagination
Well. When it comes to branding, your domain name doesn’t need to be related to your products. Apple.com and Amazon.com are good examples.
That said, I think the word “Support” can be confusing and thus has low brandability. I personally would not name my company after the word.
I meant to say the word “Supply” can be confusing in some context.
A truly sad and crazy move. They couldn’t just spent $3495 on ShaveSupply.com at HD? Far better than the .co and their original name.
Instead they wasted 5,269 USD on Sedo for Supply.co … lol
According to NameBio they purchased it in Feb 2018.
Weird minds behind that business … 😀
That’s assuming “Supply” will only sell shaving supplies. Maybe their roadmap calls for adding other “supplies” (dental, cosmetic, hair, skin, etc )
I’m well aware of that, but they have to start somewhere, it’s clear that they have started somewhere, and despite even their own statement about themselves it’s clear they are simply all about shaving now. They can cross that bridge when it comes, or it’s not really a conceptual stretch for the market to recognize that even if their name pertains to shaving there will also be other grooming products available. What they have done is far worse than going with a name like shavesupply.com now. Not only because of the TLD, but also because the name is extreme in the other direction and overly vague. I have also provided two much better names which cover the purpose you refer to down below.
Just rebrand to a good dot com, these moves are baffling, makes you wonder how good the minds behind the business are.
Exactly. I just showed one above, and here are two more they could get for reg fee right now:
SharperGuys.com
SharperGuy.com
Companies operating on a .co domain will never know how many emails they may be losing from people who mistakenly write the .com. Personally, I’d rather use almost any other extension.
Found another really good one for reg fee, but it’s too good to share. Sometimes I wish I had a business doing this. Last time I named someone’s business and got her set up with the .com she was doing well in no time and was quickly featured at length by one of the areas most famous TV news people. Then her main client died, left her his fortune, and she retired rich. It’s definitely a God-given gift.
What a mess, what a mistake … .co will leak traffic to .com and generate confusion … without considering that .co is a weak extension, to say the least …
They should rebrand instead, finding a more suitable, powerful (.com) name for their razors business (“supply” is not …).
As already said above, that’s really lack of imagination … poor marketing and branding skills …
I think companies get into this bad situation when they realize that the domain they are on is flawed and the .com can’t be bought. They then start looking around for “alternates” that may not have the exact same problem but have other similar issues.
In my view they are wasting their resources here, the move will cost sales, time and money for no net benefit. They are going to get large confusion issues like Overstock had.
I would guess that they didn’t seek advice from any branding consultant about this, the same person who made the mistake of starting on getsupply.com probably also chose supply.co. Pay the consultants if you are no good in one particular area.
I just sent this to them through their contact form:
“Please direct this message to your owners:
Hi – I’m sorry but you folks made a *huge* mistake switching to “Supply.co” and a number of us have been discussing it over here:
https://domaininvesting.com/supply-changes-url-from-getsupply-com-to-supply-co/
Feel free to join in.
Regards,
John”
@John, that is right thing to do 🙂 good on you! & thumb up from me. You would think they`ve though this through. Their senior management teams probably thought about the advantages, disadvantages & repercussions of switching the URL.
John, imagine; getsupply (.) com just turned 19 years old 🙂 its was registered on 17.October 2000, there must be a reason to why they have made the switch.
In my experience most of older domains are likely to carry more value and rank better in search engines.
Good luck to them!
Cheers
Thanks, changkouth Bouth.
Non-.com domain extensions are where companies go to die. Incredibly bad move. Stupid is as stupid does.
Angel.co has been doing fine. Be broad-minded.
uum, good for them! but they should have forwarded the new domain name to their existing site to capture some pre-qualified leads from people who type in the domains into their browser. ……… I just had a quick check and found the (.) COM version is own by other, I hope they though this through. What if I made a typeo by emailing them via help@supply.com instead of help@supply.co ?
.co will not only leak traffic to .com in the US, but also leak traffic to .co.uk , .co.in , .co, za all the other local more popular country codes
John hit on the best solution. Sharperguy.com
No TM issues, better descriptive,
Shavesupply – lots of TM issues
That’s probably why it hasn’t sold.
Leaky traffic, confusion, – this excuse is getting old.
Organic traffic is great yet options in .com are shrinking fast.
TM issues growing.
People in this day are much more aware.
.co , at least on the west coast is a very common use.
Newco.co is an example few if any get confused about.
The success of this .co is the person behind it
Globally. Not the domain.
Doubt any one here would have recommended that domain either.
Doubt any .com “expert” would have recommended Google as a single word killer
Brand.
Of course .com will remain iconic.
To suggest anything else is inferior is ignorant
Thanks re SharperGuy.com, 168. Have also found some other nice ones if I can say so myself. However, if I’m reading you right, I really do have to say I agree with those who would say much would be inferior, including and especially Supply.co. As for made up “unicorns,” I don’t think there is a burden on people to be able to spot those before they can render a sound and valid opinion on these other matters. Those are “one in a million” (or billion).
Elliot etal…you may or may not find this amusing, but in the last 24 hours I purchased the .com domains; Smooth9.com and TopNotchWine.com. While I’d forgotten, i see your business name is Top Notch Domain(s), so since you’re a Top Notch Guy, I figured you might drink Top Notch Wine?
Then I just purchased Smooth9.com for Patrick and his wife in case they wanted to re-rebrand to a .com that alludes to a “Smooth Shave” He’d have to do a little research on the word smooth and the #9, but I think it makes a pretty cool brand name.
Finally, I’m in the process of revolutionalizing golf. Some may call it Re-invent Golf, or others may call it Modernize Golf for which I own and have TM’d 9Time™.Co. While 9Time.com was taken, I had to fall back on 9Time.Co where the capital “C” accents the .co extension. I also own, 9Time.Golf and 9TimeGolf.com in case I need to use them.
Like I’ve said in the past, I’m NOT a domainer. I’m a business guy who loves the name game. I may hold out on a buyer for TopNotchWine.com, but I’d give Smooth9.com to Patrick if he wants it. Maybe he and his wife could help develop TopNotchWine™ to become one of the premier online wine sites.
Finally, note I also bought TipsyLiquors™ today because I’ve always wanted to own a Liquor Store and this is the best name I could find:)
Is there head office in Bogota, Cartagena or Medellin? I never understand companies choosing to use a cctld when they have no presence in that country. I love Colombia as much as the next guy but I’m not sure I would want my business associated with that country.
Ryan, the countres really don’t matter that much and have nothing to do with the viability of the extension. Even .ly (and I own zero of these) of Libya, which is still in ruins and at at war with rival factions, is still up and with no problems, to my knowledge.
Per Colombia, the country is doing better these days than almost all countries in South America except Chile. In fact, I bought some real estate in Medellin last month, after conducting extensive due diligence and research of real estate opportunities in Latin America.
There has been many issues before,
“Letter.ly Abrupt.ly Loses Domain Name As A Result Of The War In Libya”
https://techcrunch.com/2011/04/04/letter-ly-abrupt-ly-loses-domain-name-as-a-result-of-the-war-in-libya/
“.Ly Domains At Risk As Libyan Government Shuts Down Site Without Warning”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2010/10/06/ly-domains-in-trouble-as-_n_752528.html?ri18n=true
Please be advised that .co, .io, .tv, ai, .ly, … etc are repurposed ccTLDs and had already been given new meanings. Take .co for example, the repurposing enabled it to also mean “company”.
To claim much else as “inferior” is certainly an option to retain market share or investment value for .com
IMHO it has a creepy similarity to all things white are forever superior and anything not white is forever inferior.
Domain users/buyers are signaling a change in perception,
Customers are no longer “ignorant” net users
and TM issues- a cost heavy battle to wage that few can afford.
The letters co, short for company has been in use much longer than adding .com to a company name.
Weighing the cost to shorten an already established domain with zero TM issues vs trying to re-establish a completely different more descriptive one without TM issues,
Contrary to popular perception, IMHO for the reasons stated above supply.co was a good decision for that specific business.
No worthy domain expert would recommend this company purchase razors.com /with TM issues yet one did.
No thought to business expansion beyond current products.
The domain on its own ? Supply.co would retain a much higher intrinsic value on its almost unlimited use alone vs almost any descriptive .com related to the product that is available without TM issues at this time.
John, happy you gave owner link to this arm chair discussion. Thanks
He probably feels much more confident in his decision.
Happy Hunting !
“To claim much else as “inferior” is certainly an option to retain market share or investment value for .com…”
How about: that may apply to some, but for others – like me – it is nothing more or less than saying what you mean and meaning what you say because it is the honest conviction of the heart on this specific topic. This is where lying gets one, including lying just to bash other TLDs for the hypocritical purpose of supporting .com or any other TLD: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+22%3A15&version=NASB.
So yes – “Supply.co” is inferior; that’s my honest opinion. In rare cases for other topics I might actually say a different TLD is superior or just as good, such as .us and in rare cases .net or .org or even in very rare cases one of the new TLDs.
168….i totally get where you’re coming from. When I was first introduced to this industry a few years ago, I thought many of the new extensions were really cool, and coming from a 70 year old guy that’s saying something. And while .Co is dated is dated as compared to extensions like .golf, .loans, .homes etc., it’s become my go to extension “if” I’m looking to develop a name such as 9Time™ which btw, I’m trade marking for the purpose it’s being used for…to Re-InventGolf an ModernizeGolf for which I own these .com domains, and GolfDied.com.
I just invited Patrick Coddou to connect with me on Linkedin because I just purchased the .com domain Smooth9.com to give to him should he ever want to use it in association with possibly the “Smoothest Shave” ever. I agree with your assessment that Supply.Co is inferior especially compared to Supply.com, but that’s not the reason imho. I think it’s the “context” or “purpose” for which it’s being used. I can think of dozens, if not hundreds, of better uses for the name than the “care” products it’s being used for.
Finally, i find the GREED and ARROGANCE in this industry to be over the top, thus I own DomainEthics.com that I someday would like to develop.
Better off rebranding to brandable word. Razoz.com is available now for $2060. A bargain!
I am willing to offer them BestGuy.com at a reasonable price. They will also receive some typo traffic with this.
This company was just on Shark Tank and scored a $300k investment from Robert Herjavec:
https://abc.com/shows/shark-tank/video/most-recent/vdka14080298
Patrick ! Congrats !
Cheers