Market Force Information - Comprehensive Analysis Report

Summary

Market Force Information is a leading customer experience (CX) and employee engagement (EX) management company. It provides location-level measurement solutions to help multi-unit businesses protect their brand reputation, enhance customer satisfaction, and improve financial performance. The company's mission revolves around delivering turn-key solutions for Employee Engagement, Operational Excellence, and Customer Experience Management by leveraging predictive analytics, applications, and reporting technology. Market Force plays a significant role in its industry by enabling clients to identify critical actions at the store level that drive improved customer loyalty and financial outcomes.

1. Strategic Focus & Objectives

Core Objectives

Market Force Information's main business objectives include enhancing customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention through a holistic approach to customer experience management. The company aims to help clients understand what truly matters to drive growth and profitability by deploying advanced analytics and technology. Its long-term goal is to continuously develop and expand its CXaaS (Customer Experience as a Service) offerings, providing a robust framework for measuring and improving performance and financial Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Specialization Areas

The company specializes in collecting, integrating, and visualizing data from various channels to provide actionable insights for multi-unit organizations. Key areas of expertise include:
Employee Engagement programs
Operational Excellence initiatives, including mystery shopping and audits
Comprehensive Customer Experience Management solutions
Predictive analytics to determine ROI for improvement investments
Case management and digital CX assessment tools

Target Markets

Market Force Information serves a broad range of primary market segments, including:
Retail
Restaurants
Grocery and Convenience Stores
Gas Stations
Financial Institutions
Entertainment Studios and Movie Theaters
Hospitality and Travel
Telecom
Education
Health and Wellness
Automotive and Pharma
The company positions itself as a comprehensive, integrated solution provider for multi-location businesses, serving clients from start-ups to Fortune 10 brands globally.

2. Financial Overview

Funding History

Market Force Information has raised a total of $41.3 million over 5 funding rounds. The company's first funding round occurred on February 21, 2006. Its latest funding round was a Conventional Debt round on August 1, 2017, for an undisclosed amount. Key institutional investors have included Hercules Capital, Comerica, Boulder Ventures, Escalate Capital Partners, Main Street Capital, and Monitor Clipper Partners.

Market Force Information's annual revenue has been reported as $75.0 million, with other estimates placing it at $179.8 million or $130 million.

3. Product Pipeline

Key Products/Services

Market Force's pipeline development focuses on continuous enhancement and expansion of its CXaaS offerings, providing an integrated suite of services:

Customer Feedback Surveys: Designed to help clients understand customer needs and satisfaction levels.
Mystery Shopping: A core capability for measuring operational execution and brand standard compliance through in-store observations. This also includes specialized age verification, digital, on-site, telephone, and video mystery shopping.
Compliance and Operational Audits: Conducted using mobile data collection to ensure consistent brand standard adherence across all locations.
Contact Center Services: Handles over 150,000 calls monthly, providing customer support, customer service, and complaint resolution. This includes digital and voice call center services.
Social Media Management and Monitoring: Continuous monitoring of social media sites to engage with customers, manage issues, protect online reputation, and aggregate social posts and star ratings for a unified view of online reputation.
Employee Engagement Programs: Includes employee surveys, support, and rewards programs aimed at fostering a performance-based culture.
Merchandising Services: Supports retailers in delivering brand standards, auditing, evaluating, and adjusting product positioning.
Advisory and Market Research Services: Provides consulting and analytics to help clients quantify the impact of priorities and drive return on investment.

4. Technology & Innovation

Technology Stack

Market Force Information differentiates itself through its integrated technology and analytics platform, KnowledgeForce®.
Core Platforms and Technologies: The KnowledgeForce Platform is an industry-leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) analytics and case management suite. It is modular, extensible, configurable, and built to scale, leveraging big data technologies to integrate diverse data streams.
Proprietary Developments: The KnowledgeForce platform combines performance information from multiple sources, feeding predictive analytics to deliver actionable insights. It serves as a global reporting platform, providing a single source of truth from various internal and external performance measures.
Scientific Methodologies: The platform utilizes data science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deliver actionable insights and predictive analytics. It uses predictive models to inform brands of specific actions designed to drive growth and profitability.
Technical Capabilities:
Mobile App for Data Collection: The "Eyes:On App" facilitates data collection by internal auditors, mystery shoppers, and customers across Android and iOS devices.
Omni-channel Feedback and Survey Technology: Deploys feedback tools via mobile apps, online platforms, and omni-channel surveys, capturing consumer sentiment through structured surveys, simple ratings and reviews, and video/audio capture.
Advanced Analytics: Features include advanced data slicing, configurable dashboards, topic analysis, financial data integration, KPI modeling, API integration, third-party data hosting, and predictive modeling.

5. Leadership & Management

Executive Team

Market Force Information's leadership team drives strategic decision-making and collaborative initiatives:

Ray Walsh: CEO / President. As CEO, Ray Walsh leads the overall strategic direction and operations of the company.
Matt Nydell: Chief Legal & Development Officer & Acting Chief Technology Officer. Matt oversees legal matters, business development, and temporarily leads technology strategy.
Phil Doriot: Executive VP, Customer Success and Data Analytics (also listed as Vice President - Analytics & Insights). Phil brings extensive experience in developing and applying sound measurement practices to enhance customer success and data analytics.
Sherri Weed: Chief Operations Officer (also listed as Vice President of Market Force Information and VP Operations, In-Field Services). With over 25 years of tenure, Sherri manages all operational facets, including mystery shopping, compliance audits, merchandising, and in-field market research.
Jeff DePiazza: Chief Technology Officer. Jeff is a results-driven technology professional with over two decades of experience in planning, directing, and implementing innovative information technology solutions.
Ed Cordell: CFO. Ed manages the financial operations and strategy of the company.
Jenna Holloway: VP, Operations. Jenna is an experienced senior leader in the market research and aerospace MRO industries, contributing to operational excellence.
Brad Christian: Chief Customer Officer. Brad focuses on optimizing customer relationships and driving customer-centric strategies.
Scott Griffith: Chief Marketing and Sales Officer (also listed as VP - Executive Strategist). Scott is responsible for the company's marketing and sales initiatives.

Recent Leadership Changes

On March 25, 2024, MCI announced the acquisition of Market Force Information LLC. Following this acquisition, in November 2025, Market Force Information® Parent MCI appointed Mark Misczak as President and spun out its Tier-5 AiCX.com Division, indicating a strategic shift towards advanced AI-driven customer experience solutions. Ray Walsh remains CEO/President of Market Force Information, operating as an MCI company.

6. Talent and Growth Indicators

Hiring Trends and Workforce

As of July 1, 2024, Market Force Information has a workforce of between 501 and 1,000 employees, with specific data indicating approximately 640 total employees in 2024. The company actively recruits for roles across its customer experience management services.

Employee sentiment within Market Force Information is positive; the Executive Team is rated an "A" and ranks in the Top 10% of similar-sized companies on Comparably. Employees with 3 to 6 years of experience and those in the Sales department show particular confidence in the Executive Team. This positive employee perception reflects a healthy culture and contributes to the company's growth trajectory.

7. Social Media Presence and Engagement

Digital Footprint

Market Force Information maintains a digital presence across various platforms to engage with its audience and showcase its expertise in customer experience and employee engagement.

Social Media Activity: The company actively uses platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube to share insights, news, and best practices.
Brand Messaging and Positioning: Market Force consistently highlights its role in helping multi-unit organizations improve performance through data-driven customer experience and operational excellence.
Community Engagement Strategies: Their social media monitoring services for clients illustrate their own strategy: aggregating social posts and star ratings to ensure responsiveness, engage with customers, and protect online reputation.
Thought Leadership Initiatives: Market Force frequently publishes syndicated research, studies, and whitepapers on industry trends and top performers in various sectors (e.g., casual dining, QSR, grocery, automotive), establishing itself as a thought leader in the consumer market and CX best practices.
YouTube: The company's YouTube channel (@MarketForceInfo) features videos providing insights into their customer experience management solutions.
X (Twitter): The official Twitter handle is @MarketForce.
LinkedIn: The company maintains a presence on LinkedIn, available at http://www.linkedin.com/company/30253.

8. Recognition and Awards

Industry Recognition

Market Force Information has garnered significant recognition within the market research and customer experience industries:
Major Awards and Accolades: The company has been recognized as one of the top 50 market research organizations by the American Marketing Association.
Notable Achievements and Milestones: Market Force frequently releases syndicated research and studies that provide valuable insights into industry trends and top performers across various sectors.

9. Competitive Analysis

Major Competitors

Market Force Information operates in a dynamic and competitive customer experience management market. Key competitors include:

Zendesk: A significant player with a 15.00% market share in the customer experience category. Zendesk offers a broad suite of customer service and engagement products.
Intercom: Holds a 13.00% market share, known for its customer messaging platform that combines live chat, bots, and personalized email.
Trustpilot: Commands a 12.59% market share, specializing in online review management and consumer trust platforms.
Fullstory: Focuses on digital experience intelligence, helping businesses understand user behavior on their websites and apps.
ActiveCampaign: Provides marketing automation, email marketing, and CRM services, often catering to sales and customer engagement.
Numerator: Offers market intelligence and consumer insights, including data on consumer behavior and brand performance.
Medallia: A major enterprise CX platform that collects and analyzes customer feedback across various channels.
Stratifyd: Specializes in AI-powered customer and employee experience analytics.
ResultsCX: A global provider of customer experience management solutions, including contact center services and CX consulting.

Market Force Information differentiates itself with its holistic, integrated approach to gathering and analyzing multi-channel data, particularly its deep expertise in mystery shopping and operational audits combined with advanced predictive analytics on its KnowledgeForce platform.

10. Market Analysis

Market Overview

The global Customer Experience Management (CEM) market is a rapidly expanding sector, driven by businesses' increasing focus on understanding customer needs, enhancing loyalty, and improving operational efficiency. The market was valued at approximately USD 14.2 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach around USD 57.9 billion by 2033, demonstrating a robust Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.1% from 2024 to 2033.

Growth Potential: The market's growth is fueled by rapid digital transformation across industries, necessitating advanced solutions to manage and enhance digital customer experiences. Companies are increasingly investing in CEM solutions to remain competitive and cater to digitally-savvy consumers.
Key Market Trends: Key trends include the integration of AI and machine learning for predictive analytics, the emphasis on omni-channel feedback collection, and the growing demand for comprehensive data visualization platforms that consolidate insights from various touchpoints (e.g., call centers, social media, web services).
* Market Challenges and Opportunities: Challenges include managing diverse data formats, ensuring data security, and effectively integrating disparate systems. Opportunities lie in providing integrated, AI-driven solutions that offer actionable insights, enabling businesses to optimize customer loyalty and financial performance. North America currently holds a dominant