Mystery Shopping Articles and directory

Articles about Mystery Shopping

Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping is an excellent way to make extra money. In fact, some people make a full time living doing it.

There are many mystery shopping companies that will pay you to shop, eat at restaurants and take part in focus groups.

A mystery shop consists of getting paid to go into a business without the employee's knowledge and reporting back to the mystery shopping company.

A focus group is when you get paid to sit down with other people who are also getting paid and discuss new products or services.

Mystery shopping jobs and focus groups are easier to find if you live in or near a large metropolitan area. Click here to read the full article.

Mystery Shopping - An excellent part time job or additional income source

Though the name itself may seem a bit mysterious, the concept of mystery shopping is actually straightforward. Also referred to as secret shopping, performance evaluations, service checks and frontline evaluations to name a few, mystery shopping allows companies to obtain a “snapshot in time” by trained researchers who know in advance what they are to evaluate. It provides management a method to quickly yet efficiently evaluate their business practices, deliverables, and employees from the perspective of a non-biased consumer. Mystery shoppers visit or call businesses posing as ordinary customers and provide detailed evaluations of their experience using written reports or questionnaires.

Mystery shopping is used in a wide variety of industries such as retail, restaurants, financial institutions, convenience stores and gas stations, service providers, manufacturers, department stores, travel and entertainment, etc.

Though there is a certain level of responsibility and professionalism required to be an effective mystery shopper, you should never have to pay to get a job. There are dozens of companies claiming that by paying them a registration fee they will send you job opportunities and teach you the steps to becoming a shopper. This may be true, but is also completely unnecessary.

The legitimate mystery shopping companies in the industry NEVER charge fees to the shopper. Training, tips for improvement, and shopping opportunities are provided free to registered shoppers. Mystery shoppers are either paid a pre-arranged fee for a particular shop, a reimbursement for a purchase or a combination of both. Though it is possible to make a living solely from mystery shopping, it is not very common. Most shoppers view this as a second income source or as a way to obtain fully reimbursed meals, products, and services. Click here to read the full article.

Introducing a Mystery Shopping Program Employees

Often times, upper management is uncertain about the best way to present a Mystery Shopping program to their employees. The initial rollout of the Mystery Shopping/Employee Incentive Program is crucial to its success. Your company’s executives must involve middle and lower management and build excitement from the inside out. It is usually a good idea to share the program objectives with all affected employees as well, to give them a better understanding of why the program is so important. Detailed written program guidelines should also be provided.

These guidelines should be drafted and presented in a colorful, upbeat manner. If an employee incentive is included, examples of awards should be displayed along with the Mystery Shopper evaluation form and associated written instructions.

Program Objectives

The primary objective of this program is to motivate employees on a daily basis to perform, monitor their performance, and acknowledge their efforts. All of which will increase their level of customer service.

Secondary objectives and benefits of the program include increased referral business, improved up selling and cross selling, decreased “negative” referrals, increased revenue, increased market share, as well as non-biased, objective, “arms-length” data for employee reviews. Click here to read the full article.