WALES has become one of the top 10 most popular European geographic domains for online business and a Barry pharmacy is leading the way.

Domain name .cymru/.wales was adopted early by Evans Pharmacy, Park Crescent, and since then the business has thrived.

Getting online with a professional website and .Wales domain name is said to boost visibility and trade potential for individuals and businesses.

Evans Pharmacy is one of Wales’ largest home-grown pharmacy chains with 12 pharmacies spanning across all of South Wales, including Barry.

IT manager for Evans Pharmacy, Cameron Nazemi said: “We’ve seen a huge growth in technology in pharmacy and we want to make sure that Wales is not only keeping up with these advancements but taking a lead. Having an online presence is critical to that and using a .wales domain name was the perfect choice for us. Our business is Welsh and proud and the domain helps us show how proud we are of our Welsh identity and where we were established. Our customers love that our web address is so patriotic and it’s made us more popular than our competitors locally; they want to support the local company with “wales” in its web address. We’re always growing and the .wales domain is now a great part of it.”

Russell Haworth, chief executive officer of Nominet, which runs the .cymru / .wales domains, said: “There are many benefits of being online such as increased brand awareness and securing new business. Word of mouth and recommendations are great but increasingly potential clients want to ‘try before they buy’ and in many circumstances this means having a look at your website as part of their decision-making process. For those businesses who want to underline their Welsh connection or heritage, having a .cymru or .wales domain name is the perfect way to demonstrate their Welsh credentials to the world.”

Businesses interested in adopting a .cymru / .wales website domain and email address can do so at www.thename.wales/offer