Overview
- .walmart is a brand gTLD string proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program.
- Applicant/owner: Wal‑Mart Stores, Inc.
- Registry (as listed in the application metadata): Verisign.
- Intended purpose: a trusted, hierarchical namespace to protect Walmart's online presence, support marketing and eCommerce, and provide a secure channel for product and corporate information.
History
- The .walmart string was revealed as part of ICANN's New gTLD Program (Reveal Day: 13 June 2012).
- The application was submitted by Wal‑Mart Stores, Inc. as a brand gTLD; the application metadata lists a priority value of 1386 for Wal‑Mart Stores, Inc.
- Status in the provided material: Proposed (not shown as implemented).
Usage and Audience
- Primary registrants/users (intended): Walmart and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.
- Audience: Walmart customers and general Internet users who interact with Walmart's branded services online.
- Typical use cases described by the applicant: consolidate Walmart's online properties, provide secure channels for product and informational content, and support global eCommerce and marketing efforts.
- Existing Walmart presence in other TLDs noted in the application: .com, .net, .org, .ca, .co.uk, and .us.
Registration Rules
- Eligibility/restrictions (as stated by the applicant): initial registration and use intended to be limited to Walmart and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.
- The applicant indicated this limited distribution, together with requirements referenced in Specification 9 of the template Registry Agreement, was intended to affect Code of Conduct Compliance obligations.
- No details provided in the source about allowed characters, exact registration periods, or other technical registration parameters.
SEO and Brand Impact
- Purpose-driven branding: the applicant framed .walmart as a means to protect brand identity and provide a trusted, brand-controlled namespace.
- Security and trust: the gTLD was intended to offer a secure channel for products and information and to consolidate intellectual property activities, which can strengthen user trust in official Walmart properties.
- Market positioning: planned as a .BRAND gTLD to centralize Walmart's online identity and marketing efforts under a single, controlled TLD.
Notable Cases or Examples
- The application references Walmart's global eCommerce footprint (thousands of retail locations and multiple international sites) and its existing use of multiple TLDs for Walmart content (.com, .net, .org, .ca, .co.uk, .us).
- .walmart was proposed as a vehicle to consolidate many of those branded activities under a single Walmart-controlled gTLD.
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: WALMART
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.WALMART 2001:dcd:1:0:0:0:0:9 37.209.192.9
nserver: B.NIC.WALMART 2001:dcd:2:0:0:0:0:9 37.209.194.9
nserver: C.NIC.WALMART 2001:dcd:3:0:0:0:0:9 37.209.196.9
nserver: X.NIC.WALMART 156.154.172.82 2610:a1:1074:0:0:0:1:82
nserver: Y.NIC.WALMART 156.154.173.82 2610:a1:1075:0:0:0:1:82
nserver: Z.NIC.WALMART 156.154.174.82 2610:a1:1076:0:0:0:1:82
ds-rdata: 34531 8 2 e09b4ccfa8a68b1d6a13042fa28a343782d0d1b4bf3e79c6a1415d3b2825b922
ds-rdata: 4411 8 2 cee1000fc9a5a5c1e205308ac36910953c589174ca5d18516dcb0549ea450886
whois: whois.nic.walmart
status: ACTIVE
remarks: Registration information: http://www.walmart.com
created: 2016-07-21
changed: 2024-11-20
source: IANA
