Diego Abba is the Chief Executive Officer of Italist Inc., a global marketplace for Italian luxury multi-brand boutiques and brands, based in Los Angeles. To get a deeper insight into the story behind Italist.com, Diego talks about the origin of the brand name, his choice of the domain name and how to define your company’s brand values.

Your business is run on a short and memorable domain name. How did you come to select the name and why has that been so important to your business?

Italist is the result of Italian+list=italist. The brand name is the best summary possible of our business model. Italist is the essence of what we do: bringing online the experience of shopping from the streets of Italy. We are our name, and our name is our business since the inception of the idea behind the company.

Would you ever have considered using another domain (such as Italist.net, Italist.co or Italist.fasihon?

We are a global business serving customers in more than 85 countries. We had to consider a .com domain, which is the only real global domain.

What was the best and worst part about the process of acquiring the domain Italist.com? What challenges have you faced?

The process has been easy and smooth.

If you could have any domain name in the world would you still pick Italist.com?

Yes. It is short, global, easy to remember, and explains our business in 7 letters.

Do you think you could have achieved the same level of success without owning Italist.com?

To build a successful company, you need to create value for your customers, every day. Brand names have become very important, but it is just a step further. We can’t imagine using a name that is not the perfect synthesis of our values and our position in the media. Italist.com is perfect for that!

From a consumer perspective, how can technology help consumers to become more confident with shopping online?

Shopping online means transparency and accountability. As a company, you will receive customer feedback accordingly to what you have to offer. The feedback is direct and mostly public through online reviews. Compared to 20 years ago, this is a better and safer environment.

What is the one element of your brand you would not compromise on?

Our promise is to create value for our customers. We’re bringing the largest offer in the world of luxury fashion — at the best possible price.

Do you have any advice for other businesses who may be considering upgrading to a premium domain name?

Make sure that your offer is premium first, and then invest time to find the name that can drive your values to your customers accordingly.

Who is your go-to person for business advice, for domain names and in general?

We do it internally, with the whole team involved in the project. The brand name is always a consequence of your offer and there’s no better place to find it than inside of the office — where the idea behind it has been created.

What steps will fashion brands and retailers need to take to thrive in the digital marketplace?

Marketplaces aggregate retailers in a transparent environment where retailers can define what they sell and at what price. Customers love marketplaces because they can find a larger offer, often at a better price. Few retailers have the critical mass to maintain a compelling offer as marketplaces do. In the future, marketplaces will be more and more important in the retail strategy of all fashion brands, especially luxury fashion brands. All the brands are already changing the way they design their collection using logos and shapes that are a good fit for online promotion and distribution. All businesses are changing, and thanks to it — new brands will be in the game.

What do you envision for the future of Italist?

We are extending our offer and adding new categories of luxury items from Italy. We just launched the new section of luxury Fashion for Kids and we are extending our offer of Luxury Glasses. More categories will be added soon. Italy is the richest retail market in the world for luxury shopping.

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We hope this will be of use to you in the process of getting your perfect domain name. If you have any questions, need any help or just want to chat with someone about the process, book a free consultation at MarkUpgrade. We are always happy to hear from you.

Find out more about Italist.com