GIC-backed Trax buys Boston-based firm Survey.com

TRAX, a computer vision tech and in-store analytics firm backed by GIC and Warburg Pincus, has made its fifth acquisition in less than a year in order to strengthen its merchandising services.

The Singapore-based unicorn bought Boston-based company Survey.com for an undisclosed amount. Survey.com provides retailers with a team of more than 700,000 on-demand workers for tasks such as product demonstrations, restocking shelves and store audits.

The company's app-based tech platform also gives clients recommendations on how to improve merchandising and sales, based on data collected by the on-demand workers.

Survey.com serves retailers in the emerging and mid-market consumer packaged goods business, which are often focused on driving sales at new retail locations but lack the large nationwide sales teams to do so.

Its customers include Temasek-backed plant-based milk producer Califia Farms, healthy snacks firm GoMacro, meal replacement maker Soylent and a group of Fortune 500 brands. 

Trax said that on average, brands use Survey.com's data platform and worker network to increase retail velocity - how fast a product sells - by 30 per cent compared to if they had used traditional agencies.

Trax chief commercial officer and co-founder Dror Feldheim said: "With Survey joining Trax, we will strengthen our leadership in prescribing best-in-class, data-driven in-store strategies to brands and retailers, and become a differentiated provider of on-demand sales activation and merchandising services to the entire spectrum of CPG (consumer packaged goods) brands."

The acquisition allows Trax to serve the unique needs of emerging and mid-market brands, a segment that is a significant source of growth in the consumer packaged goods sector today, Mr Feldheim said.

Trax's computer vision technology interprets real-world images in stores to glean meaningful insights for retailers in areas such as store management and product sales.

Trax made three acquisitions last year - Chinese artificial intelligence and big data service provider LenzTech in June; US-based shopping rewards app Shopkick the same month; and European competitor Planorama in July.

Last month, it bought Paris-based computer vision startup Qopius for a leg-up in the grocery retail space.

Trax is valued at US$1.4 billion, and has raised US$360 million from investors including Hopu Investments, BlackRock and Boyu Capital.