At our national mystery shopping company, mystery shopping is just one of the many methodologies we have to help your company reach its goals!
Mystery shopping is a type of market research methodology that can help businesses evaluate a particular area of their business and provide excellent insights.
In this blog post, we will discuss what mystery shopping is, what to look for in a mystery shopping research company, and the benefits of utilizing a third-party market research firm!
To conduct a successful mystery shopping project, you must partner with a qualified market research company. What are the best deciding factors to look for? Read this blog post to find out.
What is Mystery Shopping?
Think of mystery shoppers as “undercover customers” who are sent in to observe, react, and collect data.
Mystery shoppers are usually recruited by the research company and are trained to evaluate experiences.
Mystery shopping can be used to measure the quality of sales and service, job performance, or to gather specific information about a market or competitors.
The most common use of this methodology is usually in:
- Retail stores
- Restaurants
- Malls
- Movie theaters
- Gyms
- Banks and credit unions
- Airlines
However, mystery shopping can be used almost anywhere and in any industry. This methodology can be conducted more than just in person.
For example, a mystery shopping company can make phone calls to customer service representatives and evaluate their experience.
Recommended Reading: 5 Insights from a Mystery Shopping Company
What to Look for in a Mystery Shopping Research Company
Important Qualities of a Mystery Shopping Firm
- Check their legitimacy. Unfortunately, there are a ton of mystery shopper scams out there. So, it is essential to make sure the company is accredited, trustworthy, and has an excellent reputation.
- Make sure to set clear goals and objectives.
- Ask objective questions that garner responses based on facts and direct outcomes from the experience.
Important Qualities of a Mystery Shopper
- Curiosity. A great mystery shopper needs to dig deep in order to get results for the client. Therefore, a sense of curiosity is crucial for effective results.
- Communication skills. A mystery shopper cannot always walk around with a pen and a notebook. So, it’s important to know how to communicate results after the experience is over to get the most information possible.
- Eye for detail. Like any good investigator, mystery shoppers need to be aware and take note of all factors. This includes specific factors that address the goals and objectives of the study.
Benefits of Mystery Shopping
There are major benefits to using mystery shopping market research.
It provides the client with authentic insights and information about the customer journey.
Therefore, this data can identify employee training needs, improve customer service, and ensure product/service quality.
When conducted effectively, mystery shopping can be a great tool.
The results from mystery shopping research can be used to improve customer retention rate, products, services, and overall revenue.
Interested in learning more benefits of mystery shopping? Watch this 60-second video.
Conduct a Mystery Shopping Study with Drive Research
Drive Research is a full-service market research firm, specializing in mystery shopping. Our team works with brands across the country to execute streamlined market research studies.
From writing a mystery shopping guide, to recruiting mystery shoppers, to analyzing the results - Drive Research is here to help.
Contact our team for pricing information!
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
