Mystery Shopping: Parameters And Effectiveness
Every business is out to increase profits and to do this they employ a variety of tactics. One of the most widely followed practices is that of mystery shopping wherein a person designated as a secret shopper or mystery shopper is sent to evaluate a business's customer service, quality of products, resolution of complaints and so on.
This market research can be a valuable tool in helping businesses realize where they need to improve which in turn directly affects sales growth. Mystery shopping can be undertaken by the companies themselves or may be used by external agencies. In recent times, the tool has become increasingly employed in areas like weighing the customer service of non-governmental or non-profit organizations, housing associations and even religious institutions.
Outsourcing workNot all companies may have the capability or the manpower to have their in-house mystery shopping department so work can be outsourced to external companies. The client will specify the parameters upon which it would like certain services and products evaluated.
Once a plan is formulated, a secret shopper employed by the mystery shopping company is sent out to gather feedback.Parameters that are evaluatedAny number of variables can be evaluated although certain factors are crucial and are commonly applied to mystery shopping.Customer service: The shopper will time how long it takes for him/her to be noticed by salespersons in a store. He will also gauge the kind of greeting he receives from customer service staff such as whether it is cordial, polite, friendly, rude, curt and so on.Products: Mystery shoppers may ask to see a certain range of products and will evaluate whether the product that was shown was relevant to his question. They will also gauge the responses to arguments that may arise from examining a product closely or bargaining.Hygiene: Secret shoppers will make a note of how clean the surroundings are and the state of cleanliness of the store's staff as well.Sales tactics: Salespersons employ a variety of tactics to get a customer interested in a service or product.
A mystery shopper will evaluate how effective the tactics were, how the salesperson closed the deal and so on.To ensure that the right information is gathered, mystery shoppers will attempt to blend into a crowd at a store and will behave as naturally as possible. This will ensure that staff behave as they would with the ordinary shoppers so that the information gathered is unbiased.According to studies, companies have significantly benefited from mystery shopping services. Since most unsatisfied customers don't voice their dissatisfaction to a company directly but would rather shift their loyalty to a rival company, businesses can avoid this �desertion' by improving their services based on the reports gathered by a mystery shopper.Aside from helping to increase profits, mystery shopping also opens up avenues of employment as those offering such services need the help of employees to conduct market research. In 2004, the industry was stated to be valued at about $600 million in the US. Companies that employed mystery shopping as a marketing research tool also saw their profits rise by over 10 percent.For the year 2009, estimates pegged the growth of the industry at over 12 percent every year. That's a significant number and with the growing number of companies being established all over the globe, it is very likely that the industry's value too will continue to rise.
About the AuthorDuring these times of extreme market competition, market research has become quite important. Different field research technique such as mystery shopping, surveys and more are used widely now. Visit this site to find out more.Source: ArticleTrader.com� 2015 MicrosoftTermsPrivacy & cookiesDevelopersEnglish (United States)