What is a Mystery Shopper?

Even though mystery shopping is a big business these days, not many people actually know what it means. However, in order to become a mystery shopper it is actually fairly simple and it could be really rewarding too. As well as earning a little extra money and being able to get products for free, mystery shopping allows you to help out businesses which want to improve. You will usually work for a mystery shopping company and as a mystery shopper you will be assigned various stores to evaluate.

Your goal as a mystery shopper is simple - you are there to ultimately improve the company. As a mystery shopper you undertake assignments which will ask you to evaluate certain aspects of a business. You could be trying to see how friendly the staff are, how they deal with a complaint for example, or you could be evaluating how easy it is to find a particular product. Once you have gone into a business and done your evaluation, you will then have to fill out a form to record your findings. Once you have sent that to the company which hired you, they will analyze the findings and provide a plan to the business owner on how they can improve.

The way in which you conduct mystery shopping is always the same; however the places you conduct it in differ greatly. This is especially the case if you sign up as a mystery shopper with a number of different companies. One assignment could involve visiting a restaurant while another could involve checking out a hospital. As a mystery shopper your work is dependent upon the different industries that need you the most. So you can never truly guarantee what type of work you will undergo.

The way in which you get rewarded for your mystery shopper work will vary from company to company. Usually if you work for companies in the hospitality industry, you will be reimbursed to a certain amount. Other companies will offer you a flat fee. So you will need to look into this before you sign up. It is also possible for a mystery shopper to be reimbursed and paid a small fee too, however these companies are quite rare.

The requirements of a mystery shopper include being honest, confidential, and having a high level of integrity. You would also be required to have transportation, speak English unless a bilingual shop is needed, and complete the shop anonymously. Sometimes, a company will ask the mystery shopper to bring a cell phone or digital camera. However, if you do not own one or both of these items, we are now finding several of the larger mystery shopping companies loaning the items to the mystery shopper for the assignment. It is also required in most cases that the mystery shopper be a minimum of 18 or 21 years of age.

The last key set of skills that a mystery shopper should possess would be strong communication along with strong listening skills so that you can engage in dialogue with the people within the business that you are shopping. To compliment your communication ability, the ability to be professional can also play an important role when you are performing the role of a mystery shopper.