Mystery Shopping

ABOUT METHOD Mystery Shopping
Mystery shopping is a method of data collection by conducting a marketing research. Mystery shopping is implemented by means of visit or call (Mystery Call) of Mystery Shopper in point of sale where he/she contacts company’s personnel in a role of a usual Customer. Mystery Shopper Behaviour is due to research goals and is recorded in a legend.

When Mystery Shopping is needed → If you are not satisfied with performance results of shop assistants or managers
→ Advertisement does not give required results, poor goods sales
→ Competitors sell more
→ Buyer leaves a shop without buying anything
→ Buyer has bought the cheapest product in the presence of choice
→ Buyer has not used additional services
→ Sales personnel do not work hard enough
→ There is a suspicion in employees dishonesty

What kind of problems Mystery Shopping can solve → To evaluate customer service quality, its strength and weaknesses
→ To assess personnel knowledge about sold goods, products, services, professional qualities, attitude toward customers
→ To evaluate personnel honesty and its loyalty to company
→ To monitor personnel fulfilment of valid standards
→ To adjust training programme
→ To define company position among competitors according to requested personnel performance rates, to product or service offer activity to Customer company etc.
→ Sales stimulation

Sample To calculation of required number of observations (visits/calls) all classic statistics methods for sample volume calculation can be applied. Insufficient number of observations leads to incorrect conclusions, when unjustified big number increases project costs.

How questionnaire looks If it concerns service quality assessment, a questionnaire is developed on basis of service/requirements/training standards that exist in company. It consists of questions. A question in the questionnaire conforms with one of employee performance evaluation criterion or point of sale as a whole, e.g. “Has an employee greeted?”. Accordingly, an answer is offered in “YES/NO” format, sometimes the “NO ANSWER” variant is applied, and comments are implied. It is mostly offered to evaluate subjective perception of service or a point of sale as a whole according to 1-5 system. Questions can be both objective and subjective. Their number is determined by tasks peculiarity.
 

Objective questions (YES/NO format)	Subjective questions (Mystery Shopper personal perception)
1. Customer reception 2. Customer needs showing up 3. Customer consulting 4. Handling customer claims 5. Serving 6. Saying good-bye to Customer 7. Personnel appearance 8. Shop appearance 9. Personnel behaviour	1. Emphasis 2. Shop comfortableness 3. Evaluation of satisfaction with manager performance 4. Evaluation of satisfaction with personnel appearance 5. General comments

About Mystery Shoppers

Mystery Shoppers are specially trained employees of our company who are selected on basis of demographic, behavioural and psychographic profile conforming with a profile of real Customer’s clients. Their training includes preliminary testing when selecting for this job, studying – general training (mission, general tasks of Mystery shopping) and special training (before visit).
We have over four thousand Mystery shopper living all over Ukraine.

Project control by the Customer 

For full project control by the Customer every of his/her department or employee (if necessary) is given an opportunity to overview questionnaires of implemented visits on special site. The customer simultaneously receives permanently updated, analysed and structured information as questionnaires become available. The site is also a communication channel between a project manager and the Customer.

Quality control
For controlling of actual Mystery Shoppers’ visits different methods are applied: recording of personnel names, visit cards, handouts, a receipt (if something was bought) etc. 

Visits can also be conducted with hidden Dictaphone, camera or video camera. The Customer is provided with audio, video records and photos. Using equipment enables getting additional information required by the Customer, analysing audio, video records and photos from professional point of view.

Research results presentation
Research results are presented as a report in PowerPoint and filled questionnaires according to visits results on paper and/or as a digital data.

SHOW SERVICE. Practical application of Mystery Shopping method is available here. More...

Mystery Shopping history Mystery Shopping started to be applied in 40-50-ies of XX century in USA for checking shop assistants honesty in service: conformity of sales price fixed by a shop, discounts validity, accuracy of weighing, accuracy of paper work etc.

In the seventies Mystery Shopping was adopted differently in Europe and USA, it was applied in domestic appliances sector where permanent advents of absolutely new goods require properly trainings for shop assistants concerning both functional peculiarities of goods and goods presentation to a buyer. The programme aimed to find out how shop assistants present new range of colour TV sets because as consumer goods became more enhanced and complex; it became more difficult for producers to provide efficient goods and its competitive edges presentation at retail level. Finding out and correction of “white spots” in shop assistants knowledge leads to sales increase and winning trade mark loyalty for all producers.

During last 6 years this method became popular in Ukraine. It is related to significant changes in retail field: modern service forms were developed, European standards and technologies are actively adopted, and service quality requirements got higher. For most companies high quality service is half the battle, its main competitive edge.

Order research