High paid Mystery Shopping Tasks for Effective Market Research

A mystery shopper gets paid to shop. Besides, during his job, a mystery shopper gets to interact with numerous people with a wide variety of tastes, choices and viewpoints on various products or services of a particular brand. That is why mystery shopping is considered an exciting and unique job.

Mystery shopping typically involves product and service evaluation. As such, it is also referred to as brand evaluation. Mystery shopping or secret shopping (yes, mystery shopping is also known as secret shopping!) assignments are planned and implemented by mystery shopping companies who are hired for effective market research by other companies. Each mystery shopping assignment is designed keeping in mind the client company’s business requirements. The same policies are instructed to the mystery shoppers before they set out on an assignment. It is mandatory to follow each instruction strictly. However, in certain cases, a mystery shopper may have to use his own judgment.

Many businesses that do not get the actual information on their business practices through surveys can employ mystery shopping methods. Through this method, they can find out their overall performance including many flaws which were never attended to before. As mentioned before, the main objective of mystery shopping lies in exploring the customers’ specific product-related requirements and preferences and then customizing the deliverables accordingly. The more a company knows a customer’s choices, the more it can attain a leading spot in the current market.

On completing each assignment successfully, mystery shoppers are paid in cash or other rewards as per the company’s payment terms. The payout and the gifts are good enough to keep the mystery shoppers motivated. Hence, it can hardly be heard that mystery shopping jobs are boring or monotonous.

Companies hire mystery shoppers to pose as real customers, and role-play different situations that may occur while shopping. Therefore, though it might appear funny, one might often need to play angry, capricious, indecisive, picky, or obsessive characters, which adds more thrill and excitement to the shopping tasks.

Even though mystery shopping can be tremendously amusing, it must be noted that it requires great sense of responsibility and professionalism as the hiring company relies on the shopper’s objective feedback. Mystery shopping requires no previous experience, but it leans on the qualities of honesty, objectivity, and common sense to evaluate the products and services of the company. Gradually on becoming a seasoned mystery shopper with successfully completed shops, it would help one build reputation with the marketing companies in the local areas. This would help in landing into more professional, highly-paid, and more responsible assignments that will not only reward more cash, but will also single him out as an expert and reliable mystery shopper.

Ways to Complete Mystery Shopping Assignments Quickly

Mystery shopping or secret shopping surveys are great sources of part-time income. But, many people have turned it into a full-time profession so as to earn more cash and reap more benefits. The best way to make more money as a mystery shopper is to set up a well-organized and favorable work process so that mystery shopping assignments can be completed quickly. Following are a few tips to get things right:

Creating a new mail id

In order to maximize the income opportunities, one can sign up with multiple mystery shopping companies. Therefore, to receive mystery shopping assignments, it is very important to set up a new email account and use only that account for work. For multiple types of survey tasks, one can create separate labels for each. This makes it easy to check the mail for separate survey assignment invitations without hunting through dozens of emails.

Using form filler software

Signing up with a lot of companies involves filling up their online forms with basic information. Hence, it can be quite tedious and time consuming. Instead of doing the work manually, one can use the form completion software that doesn't have any spyware or adware installed with it. There are a different form completer's available.

Organizing bookmarks

Every mystery shopping companies have their own ways of sending out mystery shopping assignments. Some companies always send out emails whenever there is a mystery shopping assignment available matching an individual’s profile but some companies don’t. In the latter case, an individual needs to log into their websites every day to claim the assignments. Most mystery shopping jobs assignments are sent on a first-come-first-serve basis. To land some good paid assignments, it is essential to work efficiently. There's a couple of ways of doing this. To set up and access multiple websites at a time with one click, a tabbed browser comes handy. Another alternative is to use a start page of popular search engine browsers and add all the mystery shopping companies to start page bookmarks. However, one of the best ideas is to set up a spreadsheet with clickable links – this can not only help access all the companies quickly, but can also have all the information about them (i.e. the scheduler, completed assignments, pending assignments, pending payments, etc.)

Locating Legitimate Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery shopping or secret shopping is a one-of-a-kind business. It is in fact, a unique market research method that many companies employ check/assess their business performance. The concept of mystery shopping has evolved over the years and has been modernized to a great extent. Today, it is a powerful tool for companies across the globe.

Those who wish to become a mystery shopper, first needs to locate reputable and legitimate mystery shopping companies. It must be mentioned here that not all companies are of equal standards, neither are all companies legitimate. There are several scams that wait to trick people with attractive income offers. Therefore, it is essential to learn how to identify a genuine mystery shopping company, which has good reputation in the market, and the one which pays well for each completed assignment.

Fraudulent mystery shopping companies charge some kind of sign up fees and promise to turn with very high paying mystery shopping job offers. But the truth is that, they never turn up. Thus an individual ends up losing his valuable time and money. All these sites do not have valid contact details and proper terms and policies. Again there are sites that have ads screaming about making certain people rich with just one or two assignments. All these scams create the false notion that people can turn rich overnight with mystery shopping jobs. Legitimate companies, on the other hand, never make such false promises. They do not charge any sign up fees and each genuine mystery shopping site includes definite terms and policies and valid contact information. However, some mystery shopping companies charge a small fee, which is refundable. Legitimate mystery shopping companies are here to provide genuine income opportunities to people and at the same time provide valuable information to their clients.

Blogs and forums can be searched for accurate and detailed information on mystery shopping jobs and income opportunities. The blogs and forums usually contain real experiences of seasoned mystery shoppers. Besides, the information in the blogs and forums help locate companies that have sound reputation in the industry and avoid fake companies.

A legitimate mystery shopping website includes pages on the company history, its total tenure in the industry, number of clients they serve, type of industries serviced, payment policies, reporting expectations, etc. Besides, one can also find a valid toll-free customer service number, which can be contacted for job related queries. A dedicated team of professionals are available round the clock to attend to calls.

It may take some time to zero in on a genuine mystery shopping company, but it is better than losing considerable time and money for the sake of nothing!

Mystery Shopping Practices for Effective Brand Analysis

Mystery shopping can prove to be an exciting job to all those who love to spend hours shopping. It is, in fact, an effective market research tool that companies employ to learn about their business practices. For this purpose, market research companies or mystery shopping firms are hired so as to design and implement mystery shopping practices.

Many people have reportedly taken up mystery shopping as a full time profession. Mystery shoppers get the opportunity to shop in various posh outlets, watch movies, dine at restaurants, visit amusement parks, go for car servicing, eye checkups and so on – all these for free!

Stay-at-home moms, students and anyone who wouldn't mine getting paid to go shopping at various stores and evaluating the stuff can easily qualify for mystery shopping assignments. There are no criteria like high educational qualification and prior experience in the field – all individuals are provided with proper training before they set out on their maiden mystery shopping tasks.

To get started with mystery shopping, one needs to first gather adequate and appropriate information on this industry. There are several online sites that provide all the necessary information needed to get started. Most of the mystery shopping sites or companies are found online in easily accessible databases. The databases generally include lists of companies, the tasks to be completed and how much they pay to their mystery shoppers.

There are certain downfalls of mystery shopping that make many people quite apprehensive of taking this job. Most companies want people to give their social security numbers while filling the online registration form. This can make anyone very hesitant. Since the mystery shoppers are not bounded by any contracts or any strict timeframes for task completion, majority of shoppers prefer working during their own convenient hours. Yet, a lot of mystery shopping assignments need to be done at a certain time. As a result, many mystery shoppers turn down such assignments. Many shoppers like to work independently. This, in turn leads to the decrease in pay or offers to shop. Companies generally send high paid assignments to dedicated mystery shoppers. Hence, it is advisable to accept each mystery shopping assignment irrespective of their payment amounts.

The cash amounts earned from mystery shopping assignments vary from company to company. This payment factor greatly depends on the mystery shopper’s performance and on the market standards of the client company. Also, like any other online job, this job does not bind the mystery shoppers with any contracts and hence they are free to take up other part time jobs or sign up with multiple mystery shopping companies to earn more.

Mystery Shopping Market Research Projects for Extra Income

Mystery shopping has been accepted as an effective brand evaluation method worldwide. Several companies employ this method to quickly yet efficiently assess their business practices, performance of the employees and deliverables from the perspective of an impartial consumer. Mystery shopping is also known as secret shopping, performance evaluation, service check and front-line evaluation. The term ‘mystery shopping’ lets out a mysterious vibe, but the concept is actually clear-cut.

Market research is not a fresh concept. With time, the traditional market research methods have been modified to a great extent and this has given rise to many modern and fast means of market analysis methods – mystery shopping is one of them. In recent times, companies collaborate with market research companies, who take the responsibilities of designing mystery shopping assignments and hiring people for the same purpose. Mystery shoppers, who participate in the each assignment and submit them successfully, get paid. Mystery shoppers are required to submit accurate reports on the entire shopping event. The data is then collected, reviewed by the market research or mystery shopping company and finally forwarded to the client company. The companies then create their product and service improvement strategies based on the collected data.

Market research firms or mystery shopping companies possess sound expertise in modern-day market research and have their own sets of ethical practices. Though mystery shopping can be done by any individual with minimal or no experience and specific educational qualification, most companies prefer to hire seasoned mystery shoppers so as to get accurate records of their complete mystery shopping experience.

Mystery shoppers need not possess special skills except for a certain level of responsibility and professionalism. Rest of the training is provided by the market research companies. Mystery shoppers receive adequate training, tips for improvement and shopping opportunities once they register themselves with the market research company. There are paid pre-arranged fee for a particular shop, a reimbursement for a purchase or a combination of both. Mystery shopping cannot be taken up for sole living but it can definitely be a second income source.

To register with a market research or mystery shopping firm, an individual needs to fill an online form providing basic and accurate information including the valid e-mail id and phone number. Once registration is done, the companies start informing of the mystery shopping jobs opportunities on the first come first serve basis.

It is very important to build reputation as a mystery shopper if one aims at boosting the additional income. Companies tend to send high paid mystery shopping projects to those who complete the assignments on time and submit detailed and accurate reports as per the provided company guidelines.

Although mystery shopping does not ensure steady monthly income like a conventional nine to five job, it can provide some extra income along with an adventurous career.

Mystery Shopping Methods for Effective Brand Assessment

Like paid surveys, mystery shopping too is on the rise. Mystery shopping, also called secret shopping has become quite popular as part-time income sources. However, many novice secret shoppers get confused either by unnecessary hype or by the negative opinions against mystery shopping, which are both unjustified. This article will help clarify the myths regarding mystery shopping and also point few strategies that many smart mystery shoppers apply on the job.

Mystery shopping has been widely accepted as an efficient market research tool. Several companies employ mystery shoppers and train them adequately for mystery shopping tasks that involve the thorough evaluation of products, stores and customer service standards. The feedback thus gathered is used to modify the staff trainings in order to eliminate weaknesses and thereby improve consumer satisfaction. Today, there is cut-throat competition in the product and service area and each day the companies come up with many new quality evaluation practices for the sake of business survival. Mystery shopping is one of the most popular marketing mechanisms that helps provide unparalleled feedback to the companies and delivers accurate data on the prevailing market trends.

Mystery shopping has made it possible for people to make some extra cash that can take care of once additional financial requirements. However not all companies pay in cash. Some companies reward their mystery shoppers with freebies and products that cannot be easily afforded.

Mystery shopping appears to be quite adventurous as a mystery or secret shopper needs to act as somebody else. Generally, mystery shoppers are required to pose as regular customers and in the disguise, they need to evaluate various aspects of the assigned business location. The role of a mystery shopper changes with each mystery shopping assignment. Companies recruit mystery shoppers to pretend as real customers and act according to diverse situations that may occur while shopping. It must be mentioned that the roles of the mystery shoppers and the scenarios are generally pre-planned. That means the mystery shoppers need to follow the scripts prepared by the market research companies. However, there might be situations where the mystery shoppers need to act as per their own discretion.

Although mystery shopping jobs are quite entertaining, they involve lot of challenges. At the same, mystery shoppers need to possess high sense of responsibility as the market research companies rely on their objective feedbacks.

Mystery shopping jobs are open to all individuals above the age of eighteen. Nevertheless experienced mystery shoppers are an added advantage for the companies. Mystery shopper does not require high qualification or prior experience, all it needs is honesty, unbiased outlook, and rational approach to evaluate the products and services of a business.