Field Agent Adds New Spin To Research

By Christie Swanson April 2013

FAYETTEVILLE — A Fayetteville company helps people around the globe put a little extra cash in their pockets just by using their iPhone.

It also helps retailers and manufacturers boost their bottom lines.

Field Agent was born four years ago with a goal to find a quicker, cheaper and more efficient way to tap into the consumer mindset.

The solution: crowdsourcing.

“When we started in 2009, we were shocked no one was doing this,” said Rick West, company co-founder and chief executive officer.

Crowdsourcing, a term coined in 2006, uses a group of people to accomplish a task through a digital platform. The growth of social media pushed the concept into the mainstream.

Field Agent was the first mobile app that paid smartphone users for providing a variety of location-based data and insights.

West said the company is a bit different than other technology- based startups.

“We were businessmen looking to solve a problem who used technology to make it happen,” he said. “We didn’t start the process thinking about being a tech firm.”

West and three co-founders are still with the firm, and all have business backgrounds. West and Henry Ho worked for Procter & Gamble. Marc Yount was national account manager for The Fountainhead Group’s Walmart account. Kelly Miller is also owner of Mill Creek Software.

Field Agent is centered around an iPhone app that allows businesses to send out a project or assignment to users, or agents. When agents fill the request in the allotted time they are paid through PayPal between $3 and $12, depending on the task.

Assignments include checking out a product display, making sure an item is in stock and comparing competitor pricing.

Other assignments are done at home when agents take a survey. “We use regular people and find out how they shop,” West said.

The app is only available on the iPhone, but West said they will launch an Android version once they need more agents.

Clients are Fortune 500 companies and include retailers such as Walmart, Target and Walgreens and consumer packaged goods businesses including Procter & Gamble and Tyson. Its first client was Johnson & Johnson.

The company has 240,000 agents who earned more than $3 million since its launch four years ago. Last year alone it paid out almost $1.6 million. West said $8,000 is the most one person earned last year, while the average agent makes between $50 and $60.

It is also a global company. Field Agent has clients and agents in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Operations will begin in France and Germany this fall.

The company focuses on retail and consumer packaged goods, and West said he would like to eventually expand the customer base to include fast food restaurants, research agencies and real estate firms.

Three new employees joined Field Agent’s staff last week, bringing the total to 20. West anticipates the work force to hit 40 in the next 18 months to three years.

The company got a boost late last month: Five Elms Capital of Kansas City invested $2.5 million in the business. Fred Coulson, managing partner of Five Elms Capital, said the company is unique in its industry.

“With its Northwest Arkansas headquarters, the company has unique access to large global brands and is a good fit with our business model,” he said in a statement. “We are excited to be able to help them add to their already impressive arsenal of capabilities.”

Northwest Arkansas is gaining a national reputation of being a hub for retail- and technology-based firms, said Jeannette Balleza, director of The ARK Challenge Technology Accelerator.

The ARK is a mentorship-driven business accelerator program for technology startups. Its goal is to recruit and accelerate tech startups in food processing, retail and transportation and logistics. The application deadline for the program’s second year closed Sunday.

“It’s proving this is the place to be if you are in the retail sector, especially,” Balleza said. “People are looking at Northwest Arkansas on a more global scale.”

She said Field Agent is a perfect example of a company that can grow in the area’s thriving retail environment.

“People need to see what their product looks like on the shelf,” Balleza said. “Field Agent found a perfect way to do that.”

The growing national exposure is drawing more investment dollars, she said. Five Elms Capital provided some guidance to participants in the first round of the Ark Challenge, she said.

Field Agent was Five Elms Capital’s first capital investment in Northwest Arkansas.

“Now, since they have a company here that means they will be spending more time here,” she said. “It’s great because it is moving more capital into the area and shining a light on what we are doing.”