Mystery shopping, also known as secret shopping and frontline evaluation, is designed to provide companies with valuable information that can be used improve the business practices, service or product features. A mystery shopper is hired by mystery shopping companies and trained for the assignments, which require a mystery shopper to visit a business location and observe various details, interact with the employees and the customers to find out if they have any complaints regarding the company, check whether the employees follow the business codes and offer good customer service, purchase certain items or products, etc. and finally note them down in a report.
A mystery shopper must have a keen eye for detail and should notice even the smallest aspect of a business. Mystery shopping can either include making purchases or simply evaluating customer service and then giving his/her opinion on whether it is working fine or if there is a need for improvement. A professional mystery shopper should be able to give his sincere opinions and bring about the required change by letting the companies get a clear picture of their business practices.
Since mystery shopping is conducted to get an unbiased picture of how a brand is faring, mystery shoppers are required to pose as ordinary customers and maintain strict confidentiality while performing the assignment. In acting as a customer, the employees do not realize that they are being evaluated and hence would provide a clear picture of how a business truly operates.
Many companies employ the use of comment cards, which are provided for customers to offer their opinions and insight into a store, their shopping experience and how it could be improved. A mystery shoppers too, needs to provide the same information from an unbiased customer’s viewpoint with a professional flair. Because this approach is invaluable, mystery shopping is commonly used in every domain.
Mystery shopping jobs are available in almost every big city. Those who stay in remote places can also participate in mystery shopping online. Individuals can find mystery shopping job opportunities in online job boards. Since this market research concept is growing popular day by day, there are negligible chances of the mystery shopping jobs running dry. Like paid surveys and other online jobs, the mystery shopping industry is also full of scams. One can apply the same techniques in identifying the genuine companies as used in case of other online jobs.
Last but not the least, the mystery shopping method not only helps companies identify the areas of improvement, but also helps recognize valuable services and/or quality. Companies make proper arrangements to reward those employees who perform well and are the key contributors to the success of a brand.
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