How to become a mystery shopper?

It is often the case that the boss or investor conducts an audit of the business in progress. It's a kind of test whether everything works as it should, and the employees reliably perform their duties. Now imagine that the head office sends precise information to the store - the auditor is coming this weekend! What follows? Employees are put on high alert, goods from the warehouse land on the shelves, they are beautifully "feathered", everyone is practicing smiles, and the security guard, instead of looking at the phone, bravely patrols the store aisles. Does such control really make sense? Yes, but the head office will not check in this way how the employees fulfill their duties. At most, it can at least identify problems in the supply chain, pricing, margin levels, or diagnose obvious personnel problems this way. But what if the audit principal wants to find out the actual mechanisms governing the store? Then it sends a so-called mystery shopper to the point.

What does working as a mystery shopper entail?

The work of a mystery shopper, is primarily a secret inspection of a particular retail outlet. Companies are eager to use this form of inspection, because it gives real and true conclusions. Hidden customer works incognito, most often people are engaged for this task who would have performed the activity anyway. It's all about naturalness. So a person hired as a mystery shopper on assignment goes to a store and tries to carry out a normal shopping experience. At the same time he examines the behavior and reactions of the staff, checks the care of the display, and sometimes even tries to plot a problem and observes how the store's employees handle it. After the inspection, such an auditor is required to prepare a detailed report. This often means filling out prepared documentation. Usually it takes the form of a mystery shopper questionnaire. This document is the basis for analysis, drawing appropriate conclusions and implementing a corrective program at the point.

What questions does the mystery shopper ask?

It all depends on the assignment, but for the most part the mystery shopper is tasked with investigating the reaction of the service to the problem put before them. Highly developed acting skills are useful in this, but of course this is not a prerequisite. However, a mystery shopper is only effective if he or she is not unmasked. Among the questions that a person hired as a mystery shopper asks the staff are often questions about advice on specific issues. For example, this could be a request for advice on what kind of outfit we would be better off in, or choosing the right color of curtains for the walls. Another type of questions are those about the availability of a particular product in the store. This checks the commitment of employees. A mystery shopper study must be done in full conspiracy. Once the experiment is detected, it ceases to have any use value for the principal.

What should a mystery shopper be like?

There is no one good answer to this question, but there are several common characteristics of the ideal mystery shopper. Working as a mystery shopper requires accuracy, meticulousness, perceptiveness and good organization. As we mentioned earlier, acting skills are also well seen in conducting this type of audit. All this is to avoid detection of the audit by employees. Then it may turn out that the audit will simply be pointless. However, a well-conducted audit and later the mysteryshopper'sreportitselfcan be a real mine of knowledge for the principal regarding both employee behavior and possible problems that require intervention. Often when analyzing the actions taken, the question arises: is the mystery shopper in compliance with the law? Well, the answer seems simple. If it does not break the law, then yes, but the regulations do not explicitly prohibit such activity.

Benefits of being a mystery shopper

Among the benefits of being a mystery shopper are certainly flexible working hours and independence. The job can be combined with other activities, and just being a mystery shopper is an excellent opportunity to make some extra money. With flexible contracts, a mystery shopper can complete assignments for several different companies, which further bumps up the achievable salary.

How much does a mystery shopper earn?

Much in this regard depends on the nature of the assignment itself, but reviewing the offers  forwork as a mystery shopper we will learn that the rates range from a dozen to several dozen zlotys per hour of work. This is a flexible job, providing ample opportunity to combine assignments, which can further increase the salary achieved. People who are employed as mystery shoppers usually treat this occupation as an opportunity to earn some extra money. So they do it after hours of their regular work.

How to find a job as a mystery shopper?

It is advisable to use proven service providers in this matter. On the Internet you can find dozens of advertisements for hiring mystery shoppers. They differ in scope, rate and location of assignments. Of course, it is best to use the offer of a company that has relevant experience and business history. Then we can be sure that we will not be cheated, but properly compensated for our work.