Mystery Shopper

Mystery shopping (related terms: mystery shopper, mystery consumer, mystery research,secret shopperand secret shopping and auditor) is a method used by marketing research companies and organizations that wish to measure quality of sales and service, job performance, regulatory compliance, or to gather specific information about a market or competitors, including products and services.

New York secret shoppers work as independent contractors, on an assignment-to-assignment basis. Mystery shopping in New York can be a convenient form of. Visit the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) website at mysteryshop.org for information on how to register to be a mystery shopper with an MSPA member company, a database of available.

Mystery shoppers, typically mirror common consumer behavior in order to test the consistency of the habits deemed important to a specific brands or industry. Mystery shoppers, which are gig workers or independent contractors submit detailed reports and feedback about their experiences.

Industries & Common Usage[edit]

Mystery shopping assessments and reports range from simple questionnaires to audio and video recordings. Mystery shopping can be used in any industry, from B2C and B2B, though B2B is more rare. The most common users of this research method include retail, hotels,movie theaters, restaurants & fast food chains, manufacturers of goods sold in retail and e-commerce. Also, included are banks, gas stations, automotive manufacturers and dealerships, transportation services, apartments, real estate & property management firms, health & fitness clubs and human and pet health care.

Growth[edit]

The mystery shopping industry had an estimated value of nearly $600 million in the United States in 2004, according to a 2005 report commissioned by the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA). Companies that participated in the report experienced an average growth of 11.1 percent from 2003 to 2004, compared to an average growth of 12.2 percent. The report estimates more than 8.1 million mystery shops were conducted in 2004. The report represents the first industry association attempt to quantify the size of the mystery shopping industry. The Independent Mystery Shoppers' Coalition reports there are 1.5 million mystery shoppers in the United States alone. Similar surveys are available for European regions where mystery shopping is becoming more embedded into company procedures.

As a measure of its importance, customer/patient satisfaction is being incorporated more frequently into executive pay. A study by a U.S. firm found more than 55% of hospital chief executive officers surveyed in 2005 had 'some compensation at risk,' based on patient satisfaction, up from only 8% to 20% a dozen years ago.'^[1] In the United Kingdom, a Mystery Shoppers Practitioners' Group has been established under the auspices of the Market Research Society.^[2]

A 2011 survey by the American Express company found a clear correlation between a company's attention to customer service and customers' willingness to pay more for good service.

CBC Television's news magazine program Marketplace ran a segment on this topic during a January 2001 episode.^[3]

Early Companies Supplying Mystery Shopping or Secret Shopping Services[edit]

- ABOUTFACE

- Bare International

- Bestmark

- [1]- Michelson & Associates

- Second to None

Ethics[edit]

Mystery shopping organizations advise that their research should only be used for employee incentive programs and that punishment or firing is an inappropriate use of mystery-shopper data. However, stories of employees being fired as a direct result of negative mystery shopper feedback are not uncommon.^[4]

The Trade Organization for Mystery Shopping Providers, MSPA has defined a Code of Professional Standards and Ethics Agreement for Mystery Shopping Providers and for Mystery Shoppers. Other organizations that have defined standards for Mystery Shopping are ESOMAR, MRS and MRA. The most widely used set of professional guidelines and ethics standards for the Market Research industry is ISO

In the state of Nevada, mystery shoppers must be licensed by the PILB board and work under a company that has a private investigators license in order to perform mystery shopping jobs. Unlicensed mystery shoppers may face fines.

In June 2008, the American Medical Association's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs released a recommendation on the use of 'secret shopper patients.' The Recommendation: 'Physicians have an ethical responsibility to engage in activities that contribute to continual improvements in patient care. One method for promoting such quality improvement is through the use of secret shopper 'patients' who have been appropriately trained to provide feedback about physician performance in the clinical setting.'^[5] However, in 2009, the council decided to withdraw the report 'in light of further testimony heard at the 2008 Interim Meeting [of the AMA House of Delegates].'^[6]

UK Case Study[edit]

The UK government's Crown Commercial Service operated a Mystery Shopper scheme from February 2011 to November 2018, whose remit was to provide a route for suppliers to raise concerns about public procurement practice in England.^[7] The service was re-branded as the 'Public Procurement Review Service' in November 2018 responding to feedback from suppliers and public bodies that the 'mystery shopper' title did not properly reflect the role of the service.^[8]Dungeons and dragons online download.

Additionally, since 2010, mystery shopping has become abundant in the medical tourism industry, with healthcare providers and medical facilities using the tool to assess and improve the customer service experience.^[9] In the UK, mystery shopping is increasingly used to provide feedback on customer services provided by local authorities, and other non-profit organizations such as housing associations and even churches.^[10]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Health Care Taps 'Mystery Shoppers' at Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2006
2. ^ Morrison, L. J., Colman, A. M., & Preston, C. C., 'Mystery customer research: Cognitive processes affecting accuracy,' Journal of the Market Research Society, Vol. 39, 1997, pp 349-361.
3. ^'Mystery shopping: Billion dollar industry keeps retailers in check'. Cbc.ca. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
4. ^Osterweil. Willie (June 4, 2012). 'The Secret Shopper'. The New Enquiry. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
5. ^'Microsoft Word - CEJA Opinions and Reports.doc'(PDF). Retrieved 2012-09-25.
6. ^'9-A-09 Secret Shopper Patients'. www.ama-assn.org. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
7. ^Crown Commercial Service, Mystery Shopper: scope and remit, updated 28 January 2016, accessed 15 September 2016
8. ^Cabinet Office, Mystery Shopper: Scope and Remit, updated 29 November 2018, accessed 4 January 2019
9. ^Mystery shopping new trend in Medical Tourism, NovasansArchived June 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
10. ^'Mystery worshippers test church'. BBC News. 2008-02-21. Retrieved 2012-09-25.

Published 10:00 AM EST Mar 11, 2017The mystery shopper scam has been stealing money from unsuspecting victims for years.It begins when you answer an advertisement or an email to become a 'mystery shopper' — someone hired by a company to shop at a certain store and then report on the experience for quality control purposes.The tipoff that these solicitations are scams can be immediate and obvious. Consider this copy of an email for a mystery shopper scam that I recently received, with its glaring grammatical errors and missing words:'Hello, We are a company engaged in the mystery shopper field.We need a team filled some people with age, residence location, experience and other different.' Description;'You will be assigned to visit the shop, store, bank, etcYou have to pretend to be a normal potential customers who're looking for a specific product/serviceYou will then complete questionnaires online to share with us your customer's experienceGet $350/assignment, at least 2 assignments/week will be assigned.' Requirements;'18 years old or aboveCan read and write EnglishCan speak the local language well'And the registration part,'Registration;'If you are interested reply this email fill out information below to get started:'. Which asks for name, address, etc.,.'

So we can look at your distance from the locations which you have to put your service, and your address would also be need for your payments.' The bottom of the email identified a copyright date of 2005-2017 for the 'Agent Center for MysteryShoppers.' One reason this type of scam works so well is that there are real mystery shopper jobs. But keep in mind that so many people are interested in this work that the real mystery shopper companies have no need to advertise to hire people. So, they do not send out unsolicited emails such as the one above.

ThinkstockOnce a victim takes the bait, they are sent what may appear to be a certified check. The victim is instructed to deposit it into his or her bank account and use the money to make the assigned purchases. The check is for more than the amount the mystery shopper is instructed to spend.The victim is told to keep a specified amount as payment and wire back the remaining funds. It is only after the money has been wired from the victim’s own bank account that the victim learns that the check was counterfeit and has bounced. Of course, the funds wired from the victim’s bank account to the scammer are gone forever without any effective recourse.This problem is made worse because banks give provisional credit to deposited checks after a few days, so it could appear at first glance that the check has cleared and the funds are fully available. But provisional credit can be rescinded once a check bounces. It can take weeks for a check to fully clear and the funds actually be transferred into the account of the person receiving the check.Many victims of the mystery shopper scam have thought they were prudent because they waited a few days to confirm (or so they thought) that the check was legitimate.

Only later do they find out they only had received provisional credit for a check that was in the end no good.The sending of a check for more than is actually owed and requesting the remainder be wired back is the basis of many scams. These include the sale of products in response to online advertisements placed by legitimate sellers who are scammed into sending their own money to scammers pretending to purchase their items for sale.Another variation of the mystery shopper scam involves thieves that solicit payments for information about becoming a mystery shopper or offering a certification program or registration program for which you have to pay.MSPA Americas, which was formerly known as the Mystery Shopping Providers Association of North America, is a trade organization made up of legitimate mystery shopping companies. Scammers will often send emails or make telephone calls posing as either MSPA Americas or one of its member companies. But of course neither the MSPA Americas nor any of its member companies will ever ask you to deposit checks and wire excess funds to them.So how do you recognize and avoid this scam?1. Simply ignore emails or advertisements for mystery shopper jobs. They are scams.2. Research online particular mystery shopping companies you may want to consider contacting to make sure they are legitimate.3.

Don’t pay a fee to get a list of mystery shopping opportunities.4. Don’t pay to become certified as a mystery shopper.5. Always be skeptical when you are asked to wire money in any business transaction. Unlike credit card payments where you can get fraudulent payments erased or sending a check that you can stop payment on, wired funds are irretrievable from the moment they are sent.And the most important tip of all:6. Never deposit a check for more than you are owed and wire money back to the person sending you the check, and never consider a payment you receive by check as being in your account until it has fully cleared.Steve Weisman, an expert in preventing cyberscams and identity theft, is a lawyer and professor at Bentley University. He writes the blog scamicide.com, where he provides daily updated information about the latest scams. His new book is Identity Theft Alert.