Crowd-Sourcing Retail Weapon Makes For ‘Appy’ Shoppers
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October 4, 2011Grey Nomad Roofing Work In Brunswick, Melbourne
October 11, 2011An in-store spy – the new iPhone Field Agent app as tweeted by Business Your Way, now pays shoppers to provide retailers with in-store intelligence such as staff performance and competitor pricing.
Launched in Australia in September, retailers can now crowd-source in-store spies to help give them a competitive edge.
How Does It Work?
1. First, companies list the job they need done on the app, eg
- taking a photo of a counter display
- checking the price of a certain product
Then, shoppers pick one of the jobs listed in their area and after the job is completed – in about five to 15 minutes – they are paid anywhere between $4 and $20.
For Example
1. Penny McConnell of Hudsons Coffee, which has 64 stores across the country, used the app to help monitor the national roll-out of a recent promotion, which offered a $2 bagel with any coffee purchase.
Penny says she wouldn’t have been able to assess store compliance with the promotion as effectively or as cheaply using traditional mystery shopping services or her own staff.
”We basically wanted to see if our stores were displaying the correct marketing material for the promotion and if the staff were actually offering customers the deal…
The major benefit for us is having eyes on the ground in our stores without having to be there. Basically, we get to see what’s happening in our stores at all times throughout the day.”
2. Steve Haas is a research officer who has carried out half a dozen jobs on the free Field Agent app. He says it is an easy way to earn extra money. The app has a GPS function that enables users to choose jobs close to where they are.
”The other day I was in the city so I tapped in and saw there was a job just around the corner. I popped into the store, took a photo, answered a couple of simple questions and sent it through. It was done in about five minutes.”
App Suited To A Variety Of Purposes
Field Agent rep, Kate Gorman, says companies are using the app to check that:
- certain products were on shelves
- particular items had been discounted in accordance with a promotion
- staff were meeting certain customer service standards
The app was launched in the U S about a year ago and now has more than 100,000 users. Kate says:
”In the US, all the major brands … are using it as a crowdsourcing tool to utilise all the people that are already out … shopping.”
Co-founder of Field Agent, Kelly Miller says:
“Now more than ever, companies are looking for ways to efficiently gain field intelligence on products and services..
In an economy where unemployment is near record levels, it’s rewarding to be part of an idea that can create income for thousands of people.”
Hmmmm- what else does the e-future hold?
1 Comment
As long as the retailers don’t use their findings to avoid staff training. Some shop assistants are not so hot, but often it is lack of adequate training in customer relations, especially for first-timers.