TheFind, the vertical search engine for shopping, which saw over 13 million unique visitors and sent shoppers to over 100,000 different online stores last month, announced the debut of its Merchant Center, where retailers can now provide information about their store to be included within TheFind’s search results and seen by its fast-growing audience. The Merchant Center is TheFind’s latest step in its continuing  initiative to ensure that absolutely every retailer in the U.S. is represented in its search index.

Similar to Google or Bing’s Webmaster Tools, but specifically designed for retailers, TheFind’s Merchant Center is a free service. Merchants can claim their online store by completing a store profile and placing a piece of code on their home page that verifies control and ownership. Once their store is registered in TheFind Merchant Center, retailers can use the many tools provided to improve the presentation of their information within TheFind’s search results.

During the registration process or any time thereafter, retailers can also choose to participate in TheFind’s UpFront Merchant program. UpFront Merchants display an UpFront button, badge or link on their home page, which provides shoppers with a complete summary of their store’s key information including phone number, email address, accepted payment methods, shipping and return policies, safety and accreditation certifications, and social media links such as Twitter and Facebook pages. By choosing to be UpFront, retailers agree with TheFind that the availability, consistency and accuracy of such information is vital to providing a safe and informed e-commerce experience for all consumers – whether on TheFind, their own site or across the Web.

“We are very excited to open our Merchant Center to the hundreds of thousands of online retailers who power the TheFind’s comprehensive shopping search results,” said Siva Kumar, TheFind’s CEO and Co-founder. “Providing a search engine where shoppers can quickly find products from every single retailer – large and small – has been a crucial factor in making TheFind the fastest growing search engine for shopping in the US, with over 230% growth this year alone. By enriching our search results with additional store information provided by retailers within the Merchant Center, TheFind’s shopping search experience will continue to improve, driving more qualified traffic and increased sales for the retailer community.”

Additional features of the Merchant Center included in its debut release include tools for retailers to upload their store logo as well as a list of physical store locations. Nearby store addresses are automatically displayed within TheFind’s general search results, and are also used to power TheFind Local, a popular feature of TheFind which provides consumers the ability to find products near them using search results that include only nearby stores alongside an interactive map.

According to Larisa Hall, TheFind’s VP of Marketing in charge of Merchant Services:

“Even more features will become available in the Merchant Center this quarter to help retailers engage TheFind’s vibrant shopping community and drive additional qualified traffic to their sites during this critical upcoming holiday shopping season.”

Source: TheFind.com