Mystery shopping therefore is yet another form of market research whereby professional operatives known as mystery shoppers make consumptive purchases in an effort to set certain standards of service delivery. It is standard practice to be employed by businesses and corporations to get valuable information about the firm from a common customers’ perspective. Mystery shopping is entertaining fun and a good source of extra income to those who are willing to help businesses do the same.
In this article, you will learn about what mystery shopping is, its basic principles on how to get started, and how you can earn money with it.
What is Mystery Shopping?
Mystery or secret shopping refers to the process whereby businesses have a way of spying their customers and operators by using people who pretend to visit their stores. These shoppers evaluate several aspects of the business, for example:
- Customer service: The services provided to the customer, the colleague, how politely, and helpful the employees are
- Store cleanliness: The situation that the business is neat, well organized, and should be well maintained.
- Product quality and availability: Whether the products are actually available as advertised, and whether they have the quality of the goods as per the advertisement.
- How good or badly treated employees: obey Company policy about business practices, such as selling strategies, refund policies, and safety regulations.
Normally, a mystery shopper is supposed to undertake a number of exercises. These can be a purchase, request for information, assessment of the atmosphere in a store or involving the staff. Afterward, they issue reports regarding their experience of various aspects, and in most cases, they give ratings, comments, and recommendations.
Mystery shoppers answer to the need of confirming that employees perform as expected, follow standard operating procedures and provide customers with the desired experience. For the shoppers, it offers them the chance to make a little money or get paid in gift cards or even have their shopping bills paid for by the company during the evaluation.
This paper aims at identifying the different working procedures of mystery shopping.
Mystery shopping as a process usually encompasses the following:
- 1. Join a Mystery Shopping Company: mystery shopping business is open to entry since the applicant does not apply directly to a specific retail shop but through existing mystery-shopping companies. These are liaison companies that connect shoppers to willing entities that want to be inspected. Several new mystery shopping websites exist such as Market Force, BestMark and Secret Shopper.
- 2. Browse Available Jobs: After you are done with registration, the page will then display for your view the list of mystery shopping jobs available for assignment. This may include but is not limited to shopping for food, taking a walk through commercial buildings- i.e, shopping centers, eating out, or making a hotel reservation.
- 3. Select a Job and Accept the Assignment: You can now pick any job you wish given the jobs are in the list. Some jobs may require purchasing a product or service, where you get paid back; some jobs require you to fill only a survey or rate the service received.
- 4. Complete the Assignment: When one accepts a job he must perform a task pointed out as per the provisions that are given in the job description. Ensure you gather much information as possible particularly on the experience of the customer for this is useful information in your report.
- 5. Submission of Your Report: For most mystery shopping agencies, when you are done with doing the mystery shopping assignment, you are usually required to compile a detailed report. It might puzzle you because it’s asking you about the kind of service provided, offer rating for aspects of the experience you are undertaking, present receipts, or even request for the identification.
- 6. Get Paid: Lastly, general advice is communicated to the client after approval and review of the report; you get paid for the job. About payment, that deals with salary that can surface either in form of a direct deposit, check or even a gift card all being depended on the company offering mystery shopping jobs. To clients, they offer free products, rebates, and discounts sometimes.
How Much Do You Get Paid As A Mystery Shopper?
Pay for mystery shopping totally depends upon the type of assignment, its location and duration before its completion. Some mystery shopping assignments may offer you mere dollars for the assignment, while others will reward you quite handsomely.
1. Pay Per Assignment
Small Tasks: Examples would be taking an online survey or ascertaining the level of customer service at a fast food restaurant for which payment is likely to fall anywhere between $5 to $15.
Bigger Tasks: However, for longer essays, for example, reviewing a restaurant that offers class services or spending one night in a hotel, the amount will most likely be somewhere between $50 and $100 or even more depending on how elaborate the task and essay might become.
Reimbursement for Other Expenses: Certain mystery shopping companies will pay you for other expenses you need to incur in the assessment. For instance, you are required to take a meal, and the company pays for what you spend but also reimburses you for time and effort.
2. How Many Assessments Am I Authorized To Take?
The number of the jobs one can execute actually depends on the time and opportunities offered around that region. Other consumers only do a couple mystery shopping jobs in one week, while others take half a dozen jobs in the course of a week. On the other hand, you know you might find an infinitely higher number if you visit a huge city or visited area.
3. Payment Terms
Mystery shopping pay varies, though, a shop Secret agent’s pay on average takes 30 to 60 days to be processed after the completion of a case. The payout period varies in some companies where some will reimburse immediately for the purchases or exercises like doing small tasks while others take more time to process the payout.
How to Become a Mystery Shopper
Becoming a mystery shopper is relatively easy. Here’s the step-by-step guidance to help you get started :
1. Look for legitimate mystery shopping companies:
First of all, sign up and or collaborate with reputable and registered mystery shopping organizations. Some famous ones include :
- Market Force : Famous for thousands of projects that begin from retail stores, restaurants, to entertainment areas. Visit [Market Force]https: www.marketforce.com
- BestMark: As with most of the written examples above, BestMark provides much work and will be paid via PayPal or check. Check this out at www.bestmark.com.
- Secret Shopper: One of the major, and largest players, in the mystery shopping arena. Check at www.secretshopper.com for more details.
- Never join companies that require an entry fee, as legitimate mystery shopping firms never collect any.
2. Make A Profile and Set Preferences
Once you choose an organization, you will be required to have a profile of your contact information, your preferences, for instance, kinds of businesses you are interested in, and your schedule. Most organizations will ask for a background check or present a sample mystery shop so you can examine the application process as to your suitability of assignment.
3. Apply for jobs
Once your profile is completed, you can start searching for available postings in your area. You may want to get started with smaller, more simplistic assignments so you become accustomed to working with the system. As you progress, you’ll be able to then take on more complex, better-paying assignments.
4. Assignment Tracking
For a mystery shopper, you will require monitoring several assignments that you complete. Some systems provide you with an online portal or app to track assignments done, payments received, and deadlines reached. Never miss submitting reports on time since companies require timely feedback.
5. Avoid Scams
While mystery shopping is a legitimate way of earning money, there are scams within the industry. Be wary of companies that ask for upfront fees or pay very high rates for little work. Stick to reputable companies only and be skeptical of unsolicited offers.
Conclusion
Mystery shopping is one of the ways of generating extra income for helping companies improve their customer service and operations. You can start earning from small surveys up to larger experiences in shopping just by using little capital investment. Mystery shopping can turn into a money-making side hustle by getting registered with credible mystery shopping companies, being reliable, and maximizing your chances.
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