Marketing research companies use mystery shoppers to find out all the little details that make or break a shopping experience. A mystery shopper can be employed by any kind of organisation, including retail chains and service industries such as banks or insurance agents. Employment is usually arranged through a third party in the marketing research field, so the mystery shopper is completely anonymous when he or she enters the client’s premises.
The mystery shopper’s job is generally to ask the questions any ordinary shopper would ask about their assigned product. They are given specific tasks–which don’t usually require purchasing anything–that are designed to test the company’s customer service standards, highlight good or bad staff performance, assess competing companies, and pinpoint areas where improvement is needed.
The advantages of mystery shopper jobs are clear: no experience or training is necessary, because the mystery shopper needs to look like a regular shopper (although the ability to sound relaxed and natural helps). Pay rates are excellent, and can easily exceed £50 per hour for jobs that rarely last longer than an hour and a half. Feedback from the agency will quickly tell you if you have the potential to be an outstanding mystery shopper, and good performance is rewarded by more work.
The main drawback to being a mystery shopper is that it is not full- or part-time work; a good mystery shopper needs to be available at short notice, and should understand that work is not guaranteed. This makes working as a mystery shopper an ideal option for people with flexible schedules who want to make additional income at a high hourly rate.
A growing opportunity for mystery shoppers can be seen in the increasing number of mystery shopper vacancies. More and more consumers are doing their shopping online, and mystery shoppers are needed to test the responsiveness and customer service practices of a wide range of websites.