Deal boosts growth in domain sales globally and supports strong and continued growth in UK domain market

Online domain marketplace and monetisation provider Sedo recently brokered the sale of Republic.com to the UK High Street retailer of the same name.

Sedo recently brokered the sale of Republic.eu for Republic, which it said highlighted the importance for UK companies of owning strong top-level domains (TLDs).

Jo Molineux, head of multichannel at Republic, added: “We are aware that our consumers are digital natives, so we want to do everything we can to increase our web traffic, which is why we are thrilled to have a comprehensive domain name strategy. Acquiring these two key TLDs will be critical to the success and contribute directly to increased sales. With Sedo’s help, purchasing the domains themselves was relatively quick and easy.”

Driving value of UK domain market growth

Hugo Dalrymple-Smith, director of UK operations at Sedo, commented: “It makes absolute sense for UK retailers to ensure they own the right domain names and TLDs that will drive targeted, highly relevant traffic to their online presence. For the industry Republic is in, where there are a high percentage of young and digitally savvy consumers, domain names are more than just a way to stamp a brand’s digital presence on the web. They offer businesses an opportunity to grow their digital presence and expand the revenues they make in the digital space.”

Dalrymple-Smith also commented on the results of Sedo’s Quarterly Domain Market Study for Q3 2011. “It is encouraging to see the domain market continue to grow steadily, but it is with the .co.uk domains where we have witnessed the most growth,” he stated. “The .co.uk domain sales have seen an 11% Q2 to Q4 rise in number of sales and a 36% rise year-on-year. The highest value public sale in the UK market alone was career.co.uk at £17,510.”

Sedo’s complete Q3 2011 report can be found online here.