Monitoring retailers across different countries can pose a challenge for manufacturers of CPGs (consumer packaged goods) and FMCGs. Planogram audit services or retail audit companies offer solutions to help overcome these challenges. Field Agent is a service provider specializing in retail monitoring services for consumer packaged goods (CPG) producers.
After identifying shortcomings from a user review-based analysis, we offer a list of the top Field Agent competitors & alternatives to help retail execution managers find the right partner.
Top alternatives to Field Agent
Table 1. Comparison based on market presence and experience
| Service Name | Total # of reviews* | Avg User Ratings* |
|---|---|---|
| LXT**** | 68 | 4.2 |
| Premise | 23 | 4.6 |
| Field Agent | 13 | 4.5 |
| Roamler | 7 | 4.5 |
| BeMyEye | 2 | 3.8 |
Table 2. Comparison based on features and services
| Service Name | Crowd size (in millions)** | Global reach (# of Countries)** | Top 3 Services** | Retail Surveys*** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LXT | 6+ | 136+ | – Store checks – Planogram audits – POS checks | ✅ |
| Premise | 6+ | 140+ | – Store checks – Retail monitoring – Merchandising audits | ✖ |
| BeMyEye | 3+ | 20+ | – Store audits – Compliance checks – Retail visibility audit | ✖ |
| Field Agent | 2+ | 8 | – Planogram audits – Retail audits – Mystery shopping | ✅ |
| Roamler | 0.3+ | 10+ | – Store checks – Retail compliance checks – Store merchandising checks | ✖ |
Inclusion criteria
* Data gathered from leading B2B review platforms.
** Data gathered from company websites.
*** We incorporated companies that mention ‘gathering retail audit data through surveys’ or offer custom audits on their websites.
****Since LXT acquired Clickworker, their reviews were combined when calculating LXT’s scores.
All companies offered retail audit services through a crowdsourcing model.
Field Agent overview
Founded in 2010 and based in Arkansas, USA, Field Agent offers on-demand retail solutions for CPG companies via a crowdsourcing model. The Field Agent’s network of work (Crowd) conducts visits to retail stores in various locations and countries to perform different retail monitoring tasks for CPG companies. Its offerings include (As mentioned on its website):
- Retail audit for CPGs
- Mystery shopping
- Planogram audit and shelf evaluation
- Promotional display audit
Shortcomings for retail customers
1. Small crowd/pool of participants
As compared to its alternatives, Field Agent has one of the smallest pools of workers (Crowd size), which is a significant drawback for a company operating on a crowdsourcing model. A shorter network of workers means that the company can cover fewer locations. Customers have also identified this drawback.
2. Incomplete tasks
Some customers highlighted that some of their retail audit tasks were not completed due to a lack of participants. This suggests that having a large and diverse workforce is essential for retail audit service providers.
3. Small global reach
The comparison revealed that Field Agent’s workforce covers the smallest number of countries among its competitors. This could pose a problem for customers with a worldwide retail network.
Detailed analysis of the top 3 alternatives for customers
1. LXT
The company serves multiple sectors, including e-commerce, fashion, retail, and marketing. Its retail and POS audit services include the following:
- Planogram audit & compliance
- Inventory checks
- Price checks
- Promotion checks
- Mystery shopping
- Competitor checks
- Display checks
1. Easy to use
A customer found LXT’s platform easy to use and suggested that potential users read profiles before choosing LXT for their tasks.
2. Extensive geographical reach
The reviewer achieved its business objectives ahead of schedule, within budget, and with high quality. LXT executed geography-related tasks with the added support of a dedicated project manager. The customer did not face any challenges while working with LXT.
3. Large crowd and global reach
LXT has one of the largest pools of participants (crowds) and the widest country reach among retail audit services. This is advantageous for global CPGs that need to monitor numerous retailers across various countries.
2. Premise
According to its website, the company’s offerings include retail monitoring, audience analysis, and geospatial analytics.
1. Effective market research and analytics services
The customer liked the accuracy level of its market research and predictive analytics capabilities.
2. Large crowd and global reach
Premise has a large crowd compared to other services, such as Field Agent or BeMyEye, and has an extensive global reach.
3. BeMyEye
In addition to serving CPGs, BeMyEye also caters to retailers. Its services for CPGs include:
- Mystery shopping
- Price and promotion tracking
- Customer experience surveys
- Competitor benchmarking
Smaller crowd and global reach
BeMyEye also has a smaller network of contributors than competitors like LXT and Premise. This can make it difficult for them to work for multinational customers.
| Company | Payment methods | Average rating* |
|---|---|---|
| LXT** | PayPal Payoneer SEPA ACH Direct Transfers | 3.9 from 3,026 reviews |
| Roamler | Paypal | 4.2 from 1,088 reviews |
| BeMyEye | Paypal Mangopay Bank Transfer | 2.9 from 3 reviews |
| Field Agent | Paypal Bank Transfer | 2.9 from 2 reviews |
| Premise | Paypal Payoneer Bitcoin | 2.0 from 81 reviews |
Notes
- Users are ranked based on average rating score.
- * Data was sourced from Trustpilot, as most reviews are from workers.
- **Since LXT acquired Clickworker, their reviews were combined when calculating LXT’s scores.
FAQs
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Why are retail audits important?
Retail audits play a crucial role in the success and optimization of retail and CPG businesses. These audits provide a comprehensive overview of in-store operations, offering valuable insights that can significantly impact a company’s performance and strategy.
Optimize Retail Execution
Retail audits help businesses enhance their retail execution by gathering current market data and reports. These insights enable companies to optimize shelf space performance, effectively manage loyalty strategies, and improve customer engagement. By leveraging retail reports, businesses can achieve retail excellence and boost per-store sales through effective retail enterprise solutions.Enhance Customer Engagement
Retail audits enable improved customer engagement by providing robust customer data and rich customer data, which helps in understanding customer behavior insights. This data is essential for modern trade stores to manage loyalty practices and deliver higher-quality data for superior customer engagement.Improve Inventory Management
Effective retail audits support optimum inventory planning and enable automated planogram generation. This ensures that stores maintain the right stock levels, preventing both overstock and stockouts, thereby optimizing the supply chain processes.Leverage Data for Competitive Advantage
Retail audits provide diverse data streams, including digital data, which are crucial for generating meaningful retail analytics. Retail sales leaders can utilize these insights to seamlessly integrate advertising opportunities and develop an e-commerce-driven retail strategy. This data-driven approach helps identify sales opportunities and monitor price changes using a price monitoring engine.Enhance Operational Efficiency
By using proprietary business intelligence and intelligent tools to unlock data, retail audits enable businesses to improve operational efficiency. Tools that analyze multiple layers of data can help in calculating store-specific assortments, leading to optimized retail execution and profitable in-store experiences.Drive Revenue
Retail audits support national retail sales by providing data-driven competitive insights and leveraging the gold of retail data. By integrating store traffic measures and using proprietary traffic measurement technology, companies can enhance both online and in-store performance. This integration helps achieve a high-margin revenue stream and maximize revenue.Support Innovative Retail Marketing Solutions
Retail audits provide innovative retail solutions by leveraging both in-store and online metrics. This approach helps companies to layer store data and achieve commerce price optimization. Field Agent, for example, provides a tailored management platform powered by consumer-centric data, enabling businesses to integrate online and offline marketing efforts seamlessly. -
Why work with a crowdsourcing platform such as Field Agent for retail monitoring services?
Access to Real-Time, Comprehensive Data
Crowdsourcing platforms like Field Agent offer access to real-time, comprehensive data that is essential for retail monitoring, retail audits, and planogram audits. By leveraging digital and offline data, these platforms provide customer data and meaningful retail analytics. This real-time data collection allows businesses to monitor current market trends, retail traffic measures, and sales data effectively. The ability to collect and analyze multiple layers of data ensures high-quality insights, helping businesses to improve retail execution and achieve shelf space performance improvement.Enhanced Operational Efficiency and Customer Engagement
Crowdsourcing platforms improve operational efficiency and customer engagement through innovative retail solutions. These platforms enable automated planogram generation and optimal inventory planning, which are critical for routine supply chain processes. By utilizing intelligent tools to unlock data and business intelligence, businesses can enhance their operational efficiency. Additionally, customer engagement tools provide rich data and customer behavior insights, enabling businesses to deliver better customer engagement both online and in-store. This leads to improved customer satisfaction and boosts per-store sales.Competitive Advantage and Strategic Insights
Working with a crowdsourcing platform provides CPG businesses with a competitive advantage and strategic insights. By leveraging retail reports and other retail data, businesses can identify sales opportunities and integrate advertising opportunities. These platforms offer tailored management solutions powered by consumer-centric data, helping businesses calculate store-specific assortments and achieve price optimization. The integration of e-commerce-driven retail strategies and comprehensive retail insights reports allows businesses to stay ahead of retail trends, drive profitable in-store experiences, and maximize retail revenue.
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