Ten years ago, ICANN launched the first stage of the new general top level domain program. As a result, the number of gTLDs today is over 1,100. This diversity can only be welcomed. However, statistics show that 53 percent of all registrations in new gTLDs fall into only ten domain zones. The others never managed to gain traction. Nevertheless, the second phase of the new domain program is scheduled for the second quarter of 2026, which will again increase the total number of gTLDs making the competition even fiercer.
In this situation, it will be extremely useful for both existing domain registries and those who plan to apply to take a closer look at the experience of companies that have succeed. Radix, which manages ten new generic top-level domains, is an example. They use a well-thought-out strategy and marketing policy and a careful approach to the selection of domain zones. In addition, the registry constantly analyzes the performance of its domains. A year ago, Radix commissioned a 12-month in-depth study of its .STORE domain, which is one of the top ten most successful gTLDs. The study was carried out by the agency Contrast Digital, and its first results have been released.
According to DN Journal, an extremely rare and interesting experiment was conducted as part of the study. Two identical online stores were created with one website on .COM and the other on the .STORE domain. This idea is not new, but usually everything is limited to the sites themselves to analyze the number of visits, transfers, etc. In this case, visitors could actually purchase goods from either online store, which makes the experiment as close as possible to real conditions. The product range was the same, with both sites built on the Shopify platform, and the only difference was that the site and product descriptions were written differently so that users and search engines would see them as unique.
The results were impressive: the site on the .STORE domain attracted 87 percent more traffic, was indexed by search engines twice as fast, and took much higher positions in their listings. Commenting on the results, Radix Vice President Suman Das said: “A .Store domain inherently communicates a clear, retail-focused identity, helping businesses to stand out in the crowded online marketplace.”
