How To Make Money From Mystery Shopping – A Complete Guide

Mystery Shopping is a process in which a person visits a retail store, restaurant, hotel, hospital, bank branch, or any such location to measure the quality of customer experience.

Many companies have defined processes and parameters to ensure that customers receive the best experience at their sales locations.

To ensure that these procedures get followed, these companies hire Mystery Shopping Companies to conduct regular audits at their locations.

These mystery shopping companies further find people (Mystery Shoppers) who match the target customer profile and provide them a questionnaire to pen down their experience.

Often these companies also give training and instructions on how to measure various parameters.

Got confused? Let me explain this in simple terms.

Let’s assume you run a big company. It’s large enough that it is difficult for you to check on how your employees are performing. Are they following all the guidelines to make your customers feel happy and satisfied? Are they doing all the necessary things to maintain your reputation in the market?

So what do you do in this scenario?

One option is you take a floor walk and check on every aspect that concerns you. But in this case, all the employees will change their behavior and pretend to give the best customer service possible.

How do you know the actual employee’s behavior towards your customers?

The workaround to this is to have people who do the job on your behalf. These people visit your place as genuine customers. They behave like real customers, and your employees don’t comprehend what’s happening behind the scene.

Your employees treat these Shoppers as genuine customers. There is little chance for them to sham or change their behavior. After the Shoppers complete their visit, they share their experience with you and know all the factual.

So, these Shoppers are your fake customers, employed and paid by you.

That is the job of Mystery Shoppers. They experience your store as actual customers, tell you about how your company works, how it looks, how good is the customer service, and other such details.

History Of Secret Shopping

Mystery Shopping was first started in the early 1940s to analyze the morality of employees.

Mystery Shoppers would act as actual employees and do suspicious activities that would harm the organization. These activities would vary from thefts, immoral operations, malicious goods transfer, etc.

Through Mystery Shoppers, the companies tested how well they could equip themselves to prevent these vicious actions.

The early signs of Mystery Shopping were so positive that soon it got accepted by many big companies. Each one modified the process in their way to suit their specific needs, and Secret Shopping kept evolving over the years.

With the current change of business demands, the objective of mystery shopping has changed. Today, companies are customer-oriented because customers hold the keys to their success.

Customers have access to the latest technology and can share their negative experiences online with just a few clicks. Other potential customers could choose not to buy the product or service based on negative customer reviews. This harms the organization massively.

So, for any business to survive today’s competition, it is crucial to provide the best customer satisfaction.

Mystery Shopping has proved to be an effective research technique to help deliver this. It provides studies, facts, and insights that can help improve customer satisfaction and the organization’s operational efficiency.

How Does Mystery Shopping Work?

Organizations use external market research companies that specialize in conducting Mystery Shopping studies.

Let’s say if KFC wants to conduct a study done at their restaurants. They could look for feedback on:

1. How clean the restaurants are?
2. Are there on-duty staff members friendly and cooperative?
3. How do the restaurants look during the day and at night?
4. How fast/easy can the customer locate the restaurant?
5. What is the quality of the food?
6. How fast/easy can a customer get what he/she orders?
7. How well is the food served?
8. What is the quality of the food?
9. What needs to improve?

To get these answers, KFC hires “Best Mark” (one of the best-known mystery shopping companies) to conduct the study.

Best Mark will assign this project to its panel of members (Mystery Shoppers). Based on the requirements, the job gets assigned to one, a couple, tens, or even hundreds of Mystery Shoppers.

Best Mark gives them specific instructions and details of what should they do to conduct the research.

Then comes the part of Mystery Shoppers. They will visit the restaurant at the time and date specified and act as real customers. They will minutely observe everything and perform all other the activities mentioned in their assignment.

Once they complete the visit, they provide feedback on their experience. The format of feedback can be in the form of a telephonic conversation, an online questionnaire, or even a meeting in person.

After KFC approves their feedback, the Mystery Shoppers get their compensation from Best Mark. KFC then pays Best Mark for its services.

Characteristics Of A Mystery Shopper

One good thing about Mystery Shopping is that pretty much anyone can do it. The companies want ordinary people to look as though they are doing their regular shopping activities.

But there some characteristics of a good Mystery Shopper. To be successful, one needs to possess a combination of skills and attributes.

• A Mystery Shopper needs to be flexible with working hours. Each company can have a unique method of research technique. They may require conducting the study on specific days during particular hours.
• A Mystery Shopper should be open-minded and unbiased. Biased feedback can cause penalties from your employer.
• He should be good at communication skills as he needs to communicate with the clients about his experience. Many times, the feedback is as a written report. So as a Mystery Shopper, you require both oral and written communication skills.
• He must have an eye for details because when he does Mystery Shopping gigs, it’s almost impossible to write notes.

When any Mystery Shopper possesses the right mix of these qualities, he is likely to excel in this field and make a good amount of money.

More About Mystery Shopping Jobs

There are thousands of Mystery Shopping jobs available around the globe. All big countries like the USA, UK, Australia, Spain, France, etc have Mystery Shopping agencies.

To get these jobs, you must visit their websites and apply for relevant positions.

Take some time to check them since each one needs Mystery Shoppers for different reasons.

Some need them to experience the online shopping, while others ask you to visit the store. A few focus on banking and finance, while others deal with entertainment and dining. Hence, you must handpick the field you like.

As a part of a typical Mystery Shopping assignment, you may perform:

• Follow the guidelines on what to buy.
• Ask the list of questions mentioned in the questionnaire.
• If required, take relevant photographs.
• Watch everything with details and take mental notes. (e.g. about cleanliness, lighting, staff’s behavior, etc).
• Once your assignment gets complete, get home, write up a report on your findings and send it to the agency.

Types Of Mystery Shopping Jobs

There are several types of Mystery Shopping gigs available in the market. You can choose the ones that suit you the best.

Mystery Shopping By Phone:- It involves calling up stores with general questions and assessing or recording how well these get answered.

Mystery Shopping Through Apps:- Most of the time you must physically visit the stores. You may buy nothing, but still, need to sneak around a bit.

Postal Monitoring:- Here, you get brochures and catalogs posted to your home address. You record how long they take to arrive, their condition upon arrival, etc.

Email Mystery Shopping:- This method is more for stores or websites that have a strong online presence. You send emails and provide feedback on the reply you get.

Online Surveys:- This can entail completing product reviews or surveys related to specific brands.

How To Register Yourself As Mystery Shopper

To register as a Mystery Shopper, it’s mandatory to provide all the correct information. You must provide details including your full name, address, contact number and email ID, age, etc.

Most of the websites ask whether you’ve any prior experience as a Mystery Shopper. Do not make false claims. Even if you don’t have any experience as Secret Shopper, it doesn’t matter, you can still land in jobs.

Once a Mystery Shopping company accepts your application, here’re a few things you must consider.

• Check your email regularly as the companies send you assignments over email.
• Visit the assigned place by time. These assignments are time-bound and cannot miss deadlines.
• You’ll look for all the details the company requires.
• Never disclose you’re looking for information. You can’t even take notes. You’ll pose as any other ordinary shopper and take mental notes only.
• Pay for your purchase and keep the invoice or bills.
• Go home and write an honest review of the place. Always provide exact details because the stores can dispute your claims if you write false information.
• Wait for your reimbursement and payment.

As a mystery shopper, there are some efficient ways to maximize your earnings.

• Get certified for the Mystery Shopping Professional Association (MSPA) Programme. You pay the membership fee and pass a test conducted by MSPA. The certified members have better chances to land jobs and draw higher payments.

• Only pick assignments that pay more. It can be a difficult task since most companies pay a somewhat similar amount of money. But if you are selective in choosing the assignments, it yields better results.

• Most mystery shopping companies have referral programs. Join them and become eligible to get Referral Bonuses. These referrals can make you a good passive income for years to come.

With such a wide range, it’s easy to start working part-time as a Mystery Shopper.

I have listed a few of them.

• Mobee Rewards

• Easy Shift

• Gigwalk

• Field Agent

• Secret Shopper

Must Read: 25 Best Ways To Make Money Online From Home