It's A Mystery All Right! How can the quality of retail service be measured? Is it a mystery? Not really, because many research companies have developed and used a tool called the mystery shopper.
Mystery shopping jobs help businesses improve.
Undercover shopping jobs involve people who act as shoppers in return for some combination of store credit, financial reimbursement, purchase discounts, or other perks.
Mystery shoppers have various tasks assigned to them when they are hired.
Each store or business may have different instructions depending on what they hoping to achieve.
Businesses advertise for such jobs so that they can figure out what customers want and need.
They can use mystery shoppers to asses how they are doing and what actions they need to take to improve their services.
Those who have an undercover job may be given certain scripted behaviors or questions they need to ask.
They may be instructed to register complaints and the time it takes to receive attention from an employee.
A "hidden"  shopping job may involve someone who is asked to record the responses they are given by employees when asked specific questions.
A mystery shopping job is not a new idea.
It began in the 1940's as a way to measure the integrity of employees.
There are various tools that are used for mystery shopping assessments.
The most simple of these tools are questionnaires and then there are far more complicated tools that are used such as video and audio recordings.
The Internet is now being used as a way to administer companies that offer such work.
People who want to become mystery shoppers can use the Internet to register as potential participants.
They can also find appropriate placements and receive reimbursement.
Mystery shopping jobs provide businesses with a way to monitor and evaluate.