Mystery Shopping - A Proven Income Source
by Adam Boulton
Mystery shopping provides companies a method to quickly yet efficiently evaluate their
business practices, employees and deliverables from an unbiased customers’ perspective.
Secret shopping, performance evaluation, service checks and frontline evaluations are some
of the other names of mystery shopping. Even though the name itself is mysterious, Mystery
shopping is a straightforward concept. Mystery shopping is a tool used by market research
companies to measure quality of retail service.
Mystery shoppers acting as ordinary customers visit business centers and provide
detailed evaluation of their experience through replies on questionnaires. Mystery
shopping is useful in a range of industries like retail, financial institutions, gas
stations, restaurants, service providers, manufacturers, department stores, travel and
entertainment.
Shoppers are given instructions to make the transaction atypical to make the test of
the knowledge and service skills of the employees more specific to a particular scenario.
Then, the mystery shopper will submit the data collected to the research company in question.
The data is then analyzed before reports on the data are returned to the client company.
Mystery shopping does not demand anything to pay except for a certain level of
responsibility and professionalism, which too are offered as training by companies.
Training, tips for improvement and shopping opportunities are provided to mystery shoppers
once they register themselves. There are paid pre-arranged fee for a particular shop, a
reimbursement for a purchase or a combination of both. Mystery shopping can be a second
income but not a sole living.
The registration process of mystery shopping involves an online form to fill in and
once registered, the companies start informing of the job opportunities on the first come
first serve basis. So an e-mail address and a phone number should be necessarily given
The first step is to build a reputation with the company and make the best impression
possible. Being impartial and focusing on accuracy will help to build a good impression.
It is better to document employee names and descriptions, and prices and inventory
evaluations. It would be all the more helpful if mystery shoppers have an access to
Internet, e-mail and fax machine or even a digital camera to capture product placement,
signage, cleanliness or other focus points.
Completing the assignments on time will earn a good reputation for the mystery
shoppers. If that is impossible, it should be communicated to the company so that they can
reschedule the assignment. The assignment given to the mystery shoppers can be an easy one
and rather a two-week job. Once determined to be a mystery shopper, the contender should
register with a firm immediately with an e-mail address and confirm the professionalism
without any grammatical errors to give the first and best impression.
Potential shopping opportunities can also be obtained through on line mystery shopping
message boards and forums. Even though mystery shopping may not provide income for a full
living, it can provide some extra income along with an adventurous career.
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