Overview
- .samsclub is a proposed brand gTLD submitted under ICANN's New gTLD Program by Wal‑Mart Stores, Inc.
- Intended meaning and use: a Sam's Club–branded top-level domain to provide a trusted, hierarchical and intuitive namespace for Sam's Club members and other Internet users.
- Registry (as listed in the source): Verisign.
History
- Applied for during ICANN's New gTLD Program; application revealed on 13 June 2012.
- Applicant: Wal‑Mart Stores, Inc.
- Classified as a proposed brand (".BRAND") gTLD in the applicant's plan, with the aim of protecting and consolidating Sam's Club's online identity.
- Walmart also applied for related brand gTLDs including .walmart, .asda, and .一号店 as part of its family of gTLDs.
- TLD status in the source: Proposed.
Usage and Audience
- Primary intended registrants and users:
- Walmart and Sam's Club operations
- Qualified Walmart subsidiaries and affiliates
- Sam's Club Members as the target audience for member-focused services and resources
- Context and brand scale noted in the application excerpts:
- Sam's Club has nearly 600 locations and more than 47 million Members (per the applicant text).
- Walmart operates over 4,400 retail facilities in the U.S. and more than 5,200 retail units in 27 countries (per the applicant text).
- eCommerce strategy context (from the application): Walmart consolidated global eCommerce in 2010 into a Global eCommerce Division with goals to:
- develop and execute a global eCommerce strategy;
- accelerate global online channel growth;
- create technology platforms and applications for every Walmart market.
Registration Rules
- Initial registration policy (per the applicant): registrations and use will be limited initially to Walmart, Sam's Club and Walmart's qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.
- Purpose of the limited distribution: to establish operations, achieve sustainability, and support regulatory/compliance positioning under the template Registry Agreement (Specification 9) as described by the applicant.
SEO and Brand Impact
- Stated goals for the gTLD include:
- protecting Sam's Club's online presence and identity;
- expanding marketing and promotional efforts;
- providing a secure channel for products and information online;
- consolidating intellectual property activities under a single, brand-controlled namespace.
- The applicant frames .samsclub as a way to deliver a trusted, member-focused namespace that strengthens brand positioning and control over online assets.
Notable Cases or Examples
- Part of Walmart's family of applied-for gTLDs alongside .walmart, .asda and .一号店.
- Application details and excerpts (including business rationale and scale) were provided as part of the ICANN new gTLD application process.
Operator
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Whois
% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object
domain: SAMSCLUB
organisation: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
address: 702 Southwest 8th Street
address: Bentonville AR 72716
address: United States of America (the)
contact: administrative
name: Project and Process Manager
organisation: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
address: 702 Southwest 8th Street
address: Bentonville AR 72716
address: United States of America (the)
phone: +44 20 70 15 17 17
e-mail: ngtld-walmart@cscglobal.com
contact: technical
name: IANA Contact
organisation: GoDaddy Registry
address: 100 S. Mill Ave, Suite 1600
address: Tempe AZ 85281
address: United States of America (the)
phone: +1 480 505 8800
fax-no: +1 480 624 2546
e-mail: iana@registry.godaddy
nserver: A.NIC.SAMSCLUB 2001:dcd:1:0:0:0:0:9 37.209.192.9
nserver: B.NIC.SAMSCLUB 2001:dcd:2:0:0:0:0:9 37.209.194.9
nserver: C.NIC.SAMSCLUB 2001:dcd:3:0:0:0:0:9 37.209.196.9
nserver: X.NIC.SAMSCLUB 156.154.172.82 2610:a1:1074:0:0:0:1:82
nserver: Y.NIC.SAMSCLUB 156.154.173.82 2610:a1:1075:0:0:0:1:82
nserver: Z.NIC.SAMSCLUB 156.154.174.82 2610:a1:1076:0:0:0:1:82
ds-rdata: 60532 8 2 3d5123de8729f24800c0715726142c8317b27134af028dc67f541de50903643b
ds-rdata: 35602 8 2 29e4496bea5e1cec89fcb45cbd4d9c45d0a024eb2b3bb1245f67ef66ba89d210
whois: whois.nic.samsclub
status: ACTIVE
remarks: Registration information: http://www.samsclub.com
created: 2016-07-21
changed: 2024-11-20
source: IANA
