Many companies are achieving significant results through a phenomenon known as crowdsourcing. From Uber to AirBnb, this concept is revolutionising multiple industries, but how exactly does it work, and how does it benefit brands of all sorts?
The term crowdsourcing combines the words 'crowd' and 'outsourcing'. It occurs when an organisation outsources a project to a large group of people, breaking it into individual micro-tasks. These crowdsourcing projects can take various forms, depending on how a business decides to gather crowds to perform tasks.
One prevalent application is completing projects that otherwise would be expensive, large, and labour-intensive. However, when "crowdsourced", they become faster and more cost-effective.
As crowdsourcing allows companies to connect with people anywhere in the country virtually (or the world, even), it lets brands tap into a broad range of skills and expertise without incurring the typical overhead costs of in-house or field employees.
Crowdsourcing is about working not only lighter but smarter.
The crowd gets it right
The wisdom of crowds is the idea that large groups of people are collectively smarter than individual experts in problem-solving, decision-making, innovating, and predicting.
Most of our clients come to us with very pressing questions; Are my products available for purchase on the shelf? Are the promotional displays properly positioned and executed in stores? Are the staff giving a good customer experience? What do customers think about the new product? And so on.
Smartspotter connects with shoppers all over Australia, who remain as mystery shoppers and can provide you with eyes on the ground in every corner of the country, ensuring extensive coverage as well as real-time perspectives. And so, our spotters collectively provide companies with answers to their most pressing questions, executing tasks directly through smartphones.
The crowd- that is, our high-skilled spotters, will not only provide your business with data such as photos, videos, and surveys, they will provide real-time insights and will speak with authority. As we know, the collective opinion of many people counts a great deal.
The crowd is highly skilled and can tackle a wide variety of tasks
One great thing about crowdsourcing is that it is versatile. It is widely used in many areas, such as transportation and infrastructure. In our case, it has transformed the retail industry, helping optimise companies' operations, strategies, and in-store executions.
Our spotters are primarily trained members of the public who enjoy visiting retail stores and reporting on what they find.
Together with mobile technology, our shoppers are trained to complete a wide variety of tasks:
- In-Store mobile audits
- Mystery shopping
- On-shelf availability/out-of-stocks
- Promotional execution
- Planogram compliance
- Surveys
- Market research
- Competitive intelligence
- Product sampling
We get the job done, so you don't have to
With our timely, cost-effective and accurate results, the outcome is that crowdsourcing has a positive impact on companies. SmartSpotter cuts traditional expenses tied to Field Sales Teams and the managerial costs of store visits and auditing.
With the help of the crowd, companies can save kilometres travelled by the field team, reducing your company carbon footprint, improving your sales, and allowing your team to work more professionally with a real-time dashboard that helps take immediate action.
To learn more about how crowdsourcing can help your business, visit www.smartspotter.com/en-au
SmartSpotter is an Associate Member of the Drinks Association.