Mystery shopping: what to know

What the job involves, what changes the price, and what to ask a pro.

What mystery shopping is

A mystery shopper visits or contacts a business as an ordinary customer, measures the service against the criteria you set and submits a report with observations. Businesses use mystery shopping to see the experience their customers get, check staff follow the rules and compare locations.

Signs you need it

  • You have several locations and cannot see how staff treat customers when you are not there
  • Customers complain about one store or branch, and you need an objective check of what happens
  • You want to test whether staff follow a new sales script, safety step or greeting
  • You are checking how a competitor's staff handle a common customer request
  • You are preparing staff for a new standard and want a baseline before training begins

What the pro does

  • Agree on the criteria to measure, such as greeting, product knowledge, wait time and the close of the sale
  • Set the visit schedule, the locations to cover and the scenario each shopper will follow
  • Visit or call each location as a regular customer, without revealing the assignment
  • Note the timing, the words used, the staff member's conduct and anything that went against the criteria
  • Fill in the report form in the same way for each visit so the results can be compared
  • Send a written report with the observations, the scores and any urgent issue found on the visit

What changes the price

Every job is different, so we do not publish prices. These are the things that move the quote up or down.

  • The number of locations to visit and how far apart they are
  • How many visits per location are needed to see a pattern rather than one bad day
  • The complexity of the scenario, such as a purchase with several steps, a return or a phone call
  • Whether the shopper must buy something, which may be reimbursed separately
  • Whether the report includes photos, recordings or a detailed rating for each criterion
  • How quickly you need the reports after each visit

What a written quote should spell out

  • The locations covered and the number of visits at each one
  • The scenario and the criteria the shopper will measure
  • How purchases or reimbursed costs are handled, and who pays them
  • The report format, the scoring method and the date each report is due
  • How shopper identities and the visit details are kept confidential

Questions to ask before you hire

  • How do you make sure the shopper does not reveal the assignment?
  • Will you use the criteria and the form I give you, or your own?
  • How many visits per location do you recommend, and why?
  • What happens if a visit is refused or the store is closed on the scheduled day?
  • Do you record calls or video, and does that match the store's rules and mine?
  • How do you check that reports are accurate and complete?

Red flags

  • Asks you to pay for a training kit, a shopper membership or a check before any assignment
  • Asks the shopper to send money back to a company or a person after a deposit clears
  • Promises a steady stream of jobs or a set income
  • Asks the shopper to write a positive review of the business

What you can do yourself

You can write your own checklist and ask a friend or staff member outside your business to visit as a customer and note what they see. Hire a mystery shopping company when you have several locations, need visits at set times, or need the visits to be carried out by people who have not met your staff.

Licenses and permits

No license is usually required to hire a mystery shopper or to work as one. Ask a mystery shopping company for its client references, a written description of how shoppers are recruited and paid, and how it protects the identities of the people who work for it.

Mystery shopping questions

Will the staff know it is a mystery shopper?

Shoppers are instructed not to reveal the assignment. A good provider uses the same process for every visit, so the results reflect a normal customer experience.

Who pays for the purchase the shopper makes?

That is decided before the visit. Many clients reimburse the purchase separately, so agree on the reimbursement process and the receipts needed before the first assignment.

How do I use the results?

Compare each location against the same criteria, share the findings with the store manager and follow up with coaching or retraining on the items that failed.

About this guide

This national guide is written and checked by infinibell. Rules and conditions differ by place, so local pros are credited on guides for the cities they serve, not on national ones.

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