Partner Article

The evolution of the mystery shopper

We’re all familiar with the concept of mystery shopping. Whether you’re a company owner using the service to examine the performance of your staff or an employee striving to meet a mystery guest’s needs, mystery shopping has become a fundamental aspect in the operation of a number of industries.

So how does it work? Mystery shopping involves sending specially trained shoppers into a variety of businesses with a set criteria to follow. This could involve asking for specific products or looking for how well promotions are advertised. Once the visit has been carried out, the shoppers then deliver feedback about the service and experience received. The outcome provides information on how both the outlet and its staff are performing, as well as providing a crucial platform for employee training.

However, mystery shopping hasn’t always been perceived in a positive way. In fact, when it first emerged, it was mainly used as a way of preventing employee theft. Undercover visitors were sent into banks and retail outlets in order to check the integrity of the company’s staff members.

Upon realising its full potential, the term ‘mystery shopping’ was coined in the 1940s. This was the birth of mystery shopping as we now know it, as an effective means of assessing the standards of both products and services.

The advent and development of the internet stimulated the next change in mystery shopping. Leaving paper feedback forms behind, shoppers were able to input their feedback digitally, with email allowing for the quick transition of documents to multiple people. As systems developed, it also became possible for data to be collated, allowing trends to easily be seen that can help the progression of the business as a whole.

As our lives become increasingly technologically advanced, the processes of mystery shopping have been adapted accordingly. Specialist companies, like Amber Arch for example, offer video mystery shopping services. Through using discreet video cameras, traditional methods are taken to the next level, allowing companies to actually see the kind of service being delivered.

Another notable change was the emergence of e-commerce mystery shopping. Coinciding with the increasing popularity of purchasing online, this can seem like somewhat of a strange move: if you are coming into contact with a PC rather than a shop assistant, how can you evaluate customer service? However, it can be incredibly valuable.

Trained mystery shoppers are employed to make a purchase online. During this, they will evaluate their impressions of the website, how smoothly the transaction was and the overall user experience, allowing businesses to recognise any potential flaws that are losing them both customers and sales.

As well as moving with the times, the breadth of businesses making use of mystery shopping services has also increased. Far from being exclusive to the word of retail, now mystery services can include anything from hotels to restaurants, bars, opticians and even garages. This helps to spread the benefits of the service throughout various industries, allowing businesses to deliver a more comprehensive service tailored to their customers’ needs.

But it’s not just businesses that can benefit from mystery shopping: there are numerous perks of the job for the shoppers too. While it can be difficult to make a regular wage in the role, there are a number of freebies that can be picked up along the way. For example, shoppers may be able to keep the products they buy in-store or are provided with a budget when dining out.

As companies compete to secure the ever-more discerning customer, it becomes clear that mystery shopping is here to stay in the cut-throat world of modern business.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Amber Arch .