TheFind 2.0 and Beyond – Putting Shoppers First
By Ron Levi
At TheFind, we’re constantly asking ourselves, “What do shoppers want to find when they are shopping? How do we put shoppers first?” In a word, we think that shoppers on TheFind are looking for “value”. That means finding the right product at the right price from a store that they trust. In 2010, we focused on improving our user experience in a variety of ways in order to help shoppers find value as quickly and efficiently as possible. We worked hard to serve up better search results with fresher, more accurate prices and availability. We started highlighting free shipping, coupons and other store information in our product tiles and Quick Look pop-up windows. But we also set out to re-invent TheFind with features designed for today’s online shopper. We called this TheFind 2.0.
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At a high level, TheFind 2.0 helps shoppers fuse online and local shopping through personalization, social engagement and “on-the-go” shopping assistance. For instance:
● Personalization – We created two new tabs called “My Finds” and “Shop Like Me”, which enable you to quickly save things and personalize their shopping search results by telling us their favorite stores, brands and products.
● Social Engagement – We integrated with Facebook to showcase personal and social preferences (if you choose), such as which particular stores and brands you and your friends “Like” on Facebook. We created a new tab on our website called “Shop Like Friends” that allows you to shop for products like your expert friends do.
● Mobile Shopping – We launched our new and popular iPhone and Android apps that allow you to scan millions of barcodes to find lower prices, save items to shop for later, and carry all your “finds” with you wherever you go.
So in 2011, it shouldn’t surprise you that our strategy is still about putting shoppers first. We’ll be continuing our work in the areas that we focused on in 2010, but we’ll also be continuing to evolve so as to provide shoppers with the tools they need to find the great values that are out there. Look for:
● New price features
● Bigger, higher quality images
● Faster, easier browsing
● Personal recommendations
● Superior mobile phone and tablet experiences