Caddle acquires Shopper Army
Caddle has acquired Shopper Army in a move that brings together two Canadian players in the product review space.
Founded 10 years ago by CEO Ransom Hawley, Caddle is a mobile-first consumer research and product review platform that rewards Canadians for sharing data and engaging with brands. Shopper Army was previously owned by BrandSpark International, which runs the Best New Product Awards and was founded by Robert Levy.
Hawley says both Caddle and BrandSpark sought to focus on their core competencies—product reviews for Caddle, and research and the awards program for BrandSpark. “We ended up making a deal that was really about a couple of great Canadian homegrown companies figuring out a way to double down on what they do best.”
For brands and retailers, the move means a bigger panel of Canadians, more receipt-verified reviews, and more reach and scale.
Hawley points out that collecting and distributing product reviews is an ongoing challenge for brands in Canada. Some U.S.-owned third-party platforms have made it “expensive and difficult” for brands and retailers to publish reviews, often charging high syndication fees and limiting access for brands.
“So, we’ve made it our mission to democratize product reviews and put them in as many places as possible,” he says.
Caddle’s approach centres on verified purchases through receipts uploaded by Canadians using its app. Currently, around 11,000 receipts are uploaded every day for products actively collecting reviews. “It’s an open network—we’re plugged directly into Walmart and other retailers as well,” Hawley says. “The more retailers that we onboard, the more value it is for our clients; and the more receipts we collect, the more reviews we can potentially collect and syndicate for brands.”
The acquisition of Shopper Army is a major milestone for Caddle—a 15-person company—and will allow it to build on its strengths.
“They were a smaller competitor, but they did things a bit differently from a product review perspective, and they had great reporting and intelligence,” says Hawley. “Now, we can take the best of what Shopper Army does, integrate it into the Caddle platform and add even more value –it’s the best of both worlds. It means more panel members, more receipts and more product reviews.”
The acquisition also signals Caddle’s dedication to the Canadian market. “There was a potential opportunity to expand in the U.S. and we made a decision that’s not what we want to do—we want to focus here, so let’s lean into this,” says Hawley.
“We’ve always said there’s so much work to do in Canada—and I love Canada … So, it’s about establishing and growing ourselves as the market leader in this space.”
