Field Agent, a CPG retail consultancy and insights firm, has acquired the virtual store walk-through platform, Shelfgram.
Shelfgram, which launched in 2020, is a repository of shelf and product images supplied by industries, fulfillment partners and consumers that lets users browse the aisles of thousands of stores, and which optimizes said photos with AI.
The company says the platform takes in a new retail photo every second, supporting more than 500 companies with data collection spanning 35 countries.
Field Agent, meanwhile, utilizes more than three million connected shoppers worldwide to capture in-store prices, product availability and display compliance, while providing retail audits, ratings and reviews, shopper insights, and location-specific retail solutions.
With the acquisition of Shelfgram and its planogram and display-capturing technology, Field Agent says brands can analyze pricing trends, improve promotional execution and research the competitive landscape more efficiently. The companies say the combined technologies provide complete shelf transparency for brands by “reducing time required for store visits, offering image-driven data and building actionable insights.”
“Leveraging millions of Field Agent’s crowdsourced photos and continuously feeding them through Shelfgram’s AI-enabled platform allows for a brand new understanding of category insights,” says Rick West, CEO of Field Agent, which collaborated with Shelfgram on a “Retail Out Of Stock Tracker” during initial COVID-19 lockdowns. “With the acquisition, we’re building a bridge over the current product visibility limitations the CPG industry faces.”
Bram Warshafsky, CEO and founder of Shelfgram, says the vision of the company had always been to “supercharge the store check.”
“By joining forces with Field Agent, we are set to redefine how brands engage with and understand their shelf presence, leveraging our combined technological strengths to reveal unprecedented insights,” Warshafsky says.