What Shepper does

Shepper is a London-headquartered data collection and analytics company that operates a two-sided crowdsourcing platform connecting enterprise clients with a distributed community of 300,000+ freelance data collectors ("Shepherds") located across every postcode in the UK and Ireland. Founded in 2016 by Carl August Ameln, the company sells on-demand field intelligence services — primarily Mystery Shopping, Auditing, and Brand Solutions (including product recall, promotional verification, and regulatory compliance) — to consumer goods brands, retailers, convenience operators, hospitality groups, media owners, and utility companies. The Shepherd mobile app captures geotagged, timestamped photographs and survey responses, which are processed through an AI layer comprising OCR, computer-vision-based image recognition, anomaly detection, and pattern recognition before being surfaced in customizable real-time dashboards and Pulse Alert notifications.

The technology stack combines a consumer-grade smartphone application (iOS and Android) with backend AI/ML pipelines and a client-facing dashboard. Distinctive capabilities include the SKU360° product for competitor pricing and product data extraction via OCR, an automated quality assurance system that scores individual Shepherds and triggers skill badges, and Pulse Alerts that push real-time notifications when AI identifies compliance issues. Results are typically delivered within 24-48 hours of client briefing. Named customers include L'Oréal, Ferrero, Allwyn, Bleach London, Kobayashi Healthcare, Lucky Saint, and Waitrose.

Revenue is generated primarily through usage-based and recurring service contracts — clients pay per inspection or audit, with bespoke enterprise agreements supporting larger recurring engagements. GTM combines direct enterprise sales with a Shepper-supplier community-led marketplace model, supplemented by a channel partner program for field marketing agencies. The company has raised at least £5.4M in disclosed funding (Series A in 2018, led by Aviva Ventures and Idekapital) plus undisclosed additional capital from Centerbridge and existing investors in 2021. Following a 2021 rebrand led by CEO Lindsay Forster (who joined in 2020), the company narrowed focus to Retail, Consumer Goods, and Media, and has since grown its Shepherd community more than 20x. The company is privately held and UK-and-Ireland-only in geographic scope.

Name

Shepper

Legal name

Shepper Limited

Website

https://shepper.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Shepper is a UK-based data collection and analytics firm operating a community-powered platform of 300,000+ "Shepherds" that delivers on-demand mystery shopping, retail auditing, brand compliance, and product recall services to enterprise consumer brands, retailers, media owners, and convenience operators across the UK and Ireland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Field Data Collection Services

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Grocery & Convenience Delivery Platforms (BPAMAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Object Detection & Tracking (HDAAAEAB)

Keywords

• Retail audit services
• Mystery shopping
• Field data collection
• Price monitoring
• Compliance auditing

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Business Data Collection Services: On-demand data collection services for enterprises including mystery shopping, auditing, brand solutions, and compliance checks. Billed per inspection/audit or as recurring service contracts.
2. Inspection Services: Fees charged per Order for visual inspections and asset checking services, with minimum order requirements and service level agreements.
3. SKU360° Product Data: In-store pricing and product data collection solution, charged based on scope and scale of data collection requirements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Shepper provides on-demand, AI-augmented in-store data collection services to enterprise clients across the UK and Ireland. A community of 300,000+ 'Shepherds' uses the Shepper mobile app to capture geotagged photos, videos, and survey responses during store visits, which are then processed through proprietary OCR and AI image recognition and delivered to clients via real-time dashboards and Pulse Alerts. Core service lines are Mystery Shopping, Auditing, Brand Solutions (including Product Recall), and SKU360° pricing data, plus sub-services such as Promotional Verification and Regulatory Compliance Audits.

Product overview

Shepper is a data analysis company operating a platform-based model that combines a nationwide community of over 300,000 'Shepherds' with proprietary technology for real-time data collection and analysis. The core offering consists of Mystery Shopping, Auditing, and Brand Solutions services, with SKU360° as a distinct product for in-store pricing and product data collection. Sub-services include Product Recall, Promotional Verification, Regulatory Compliance Audits, and Availability Audits. All services leverage the Shepherd community and Shepper's mobile app to capture geotagged, timestamped photographic evidence, which is then processed through AI-powered quality assurance and delivered via real-time dashboards with Pulse Alert notifications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mystery Shopping On-demand mystery shopping programmes that deliver real-time insights on customer experience across in-store, home delivery, and click & collect channels. The service uses a nationwide community of Shepherds to capture observations, timestamped photos, and service quality metrics for brands and retailers.
• Auditing Agile, on-demand auditing service that combines the Shepherd community and proprietary technology to collect, evidence, and activate in-store data. Covers product audits, availability checks, pricing intelligence, and promotional compliance verification across all UK retail channels for brands and retailers.
• Brand Solutions Comprehensive brand optimisation service covering brand activation, product distribution, and product recall across all distribution channels, including convenience, forecourts, high street stores, pubs, restaurants, and takeaways. Targeted at consumer brands seeking visibility across fragmented UK retail and on-trade networks.
• SKU360° Distinct in-store data collection product that provides accurate, real-time pricing and back-of-pack data from retailers and competitors. Uses OCR technology and the nationwide Shepherd community to capture verified competitor pricing intelligence and product information at scale for consumer brands and retailers.
• Product Recall End-to-end product recall and removal service that builds location call files, designs tasks, captures timestamped photo evidence and purchase receipts, and produces real-time distribution heat maps across the UK's convenience, forecourt, and on-trade locations.
• Promotional Verification Service that audits in-store point of sale and promotional execution to deliver Day One Compliance. Covers presence, condition, placement, and stock levels of promotional materials across grocery, convenience, and on-trade channels for brands.
• Regulatory Compliance Audits Compliance auditing service that verifies stores operate safely and in line with legal standards. Covers expired food and drink checks, Challenge 25 age verification, and allergen compliance, with photographic evidence and timestamped reporting delivered through a live insights dashboard.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50% improvement in campaign performance for L'Oréal across 700 stores
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Founders FactoryminorOthers · 1 January 2018Shepper was honored to join the esteemed Founders Factory alumni program in 2018, providing access to accelerator resources and network.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Repsly: Retail execution and field-team management software used by CPGs for store audits, merchandising and promotional compliance — adjacent offering to Shepper's auditing and verification products.
• Gigwalk: Mobile workforce platform for retail merchandising audits and in-store task completion by a distributed crowd; overlaps with Shepper's auditing and promotional verification offerings.
• Field Agent: US-based crowdsourced platform that pays everyday consumers to complete retail audits, mystery shops and product checks, mirroring Shepper's on-demand, app-mediated Shepherd model.
• BeMyEye: European crowdsourced in-store data collection platform using a gig community of 'Eyes' to perform retail audits, shelf checks and mystery shopping for CPG brands — directly comparable business model and customer base to Shepper.

Broad incumbents

• StayinFront: Long-established retail execution and CRM provider for CPG field teams, offering image-based audits and merchandising workflows that overlap with Shepper's auditing services.
• Ipsos Mystery Shopping: Global research firm's mystery shopping and customer-experience measurement division; competes with Shepper's mystery shopping line but via traditional contracted shoppers rather than crowdsourcing.
• Market Force Information: Customer experience measurement and mystery shopping company; overlaps with Shepper's mystery shopping and retail experience audits for multi-site brands.
• Trax: Global retail computer-vision leader for in-store shelf monitoring and analytics; competes with Shepper in SKU/pricing visibility but with a pure-tech/AI model and broader international footprint.

Emerging players

• Ailet: AI-powered retail execution platform using image recognition for shelf audits and merchandising insights; addresses the same SKU360°/availability audit use cases as Shepper.
• Planorama (Aforza): Mobile image-recognition platform for retail audits and merchandising; targets the same SKU360°/shelf-visibility use cases as Shepper with a more AI-centric approach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AskShepper
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCDc__HJLQhn3r7jPKWSMrNA
• Facebookfacebook.com/AskShepper
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shepper
• Instagraminstagram.com/shepper

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Shepper