E-commerce technology platform naming

As e-commerce sales continue to explode, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to scale to meet changing consumer needs. One- and two-person businesses in particular can easily max out and stall. E-commerce technology company Artica developed a seller insights tool for these business owners that uses machine learning to provide an ongoing valuation score (with insights into what’s adding or subtracting from that value), forecasts sales (including when sellers will run out of inventory), and identifies possible resources for financing. Artica partnered with Catchword to name this platform and several other services.

We worked closely with the client team to identify the best messaging and style for the name, then explored more than 1,200 candidates. The client team chose 21 names for prescreening—a fairly large number for this space, reflecting the team’s high level of satisfaction with the names developed. Stoke, the name ultimately selected, expresses how the tool’s insights can ignite sales and fuel business growth. Its tone is strong yet approachable. The word’s more casual use (“Get stoked!”) implies the positivity and excitement of being a new business owner. Stoke helps nurture an entrepreneurial spark into a full-fledged (fire)brand.

The client was delighted with the name and name story, using the metaphor to great effect in the visual identity and in marketing copy on its site. Stoke rolled out in early 2023 and quickly became an indispensable tool for early adopters.