What is a mystery shopper?

A mystery shopper is someone who pretends to be an ordinary customer in order to assess the quality of a company's services or products. It's like an undercover inspector who will note different aspects of the customer experience, from the welcome to the quality of the products, including the staff's product knowledge.

What is the purpose of a mystery shopper?

Assess service quality: Companies use mystery shoppers to measure the quality of their customer service, the competence of their employees, and compliance with company standards.

Identify strengths and weaknesses: Mystery shopper reports help identify areas that need improvement and those that are working well.

Measuring training effectiveness: Companies can evaluate the effectiveness of their training by comparing employee performance before and after training.

Ensure compliance with standards: Mystery shoppers check whether employees are following company procedures and standards.

How does a mystery shopper mission work?

Briefing: The mystery shopper receives a precise briefing on the mission to be accomplished: the company to be evaluated, the services or products to be tested, the questions to ask, etc.

Field mission: The mystery shopper goes on site and simulates a normal customer experience. He observes, asks questions and notes his impressions.

Report: At the end of the mission, the mystery shopper writes a detailed report, highlighting the positive and negative points of the experience.

The different types of mystery shopper missions:

In-store visit: Evaluation of the reception, product presentation, employee availability, etc.

Phone Call: Rating the quality of phone support, product knowledge, problem resolution, etc.

Online survey: Evaluating the ease of navigation on a website, the clarity of information, etc.

Mystery Shopping: Simulating a purchase to assess product quality, payment process, etc.

The benefits of using mystery shoppers:

Objective assessment: Mystery shoppers provide a neutral and objective perspective on service quality.

Rapid problem identification: Problems can be identified and corrected quickly.

Improved Customer Experience: The information gathered by mystery shoppers helps improve the overall customer experience.

In summary, the mystery shopper is a valuable tool for companies that wish to maintain a high level of quality and satisfy their customers.