Remote Mystery Shopping Takes Centre Stage
Understanding Mystery Shopping
Mystery shopping allows business owners to review the quality of service they provide and identify any issues related to product knowledge, training or operational compliance for their staff. Key metrics are devised by the business owner with the shopper service. The service will then, either randomly or according to an agreed schedule, collect data on these metrics and provide a detailed report to the owner or management team.
Applications of Mystery Shopping in Different Industries
Industries where mystery shopping programs are implemented typically include retail, hospitality (restaurants, hotels, etc.), convenience stores, and other service industries. They are particularly useful for multi-site operators where you cannot be on the ground to ensure your staff are delivering on your brand promise. The application of a fresh set of eyes, from an independent point of view, can also illustrate issues.
What Areas Can Be Assessed?
The data collected can be used to identify a host of different issues in your business and allow you to take action before bad habits set in. These actions can be in the form of training, awards for good performance or disciplinary action if required.
Typically, the shopper will look at issues like:
- Uniforms and name badges
- Cleanliness and presentation
- Compliance with promotions
- Product placements
- Safe work habits
- Employee behaviours – prompt greetings or service
- Employees engaged in work-related activities – not talking on a phone, smoking, watching a movie, etc.
Really, anything that can be seen can be tested.
The Changing Landscape of Mystery Shopping
Traditionally, these services were provided by a physical shopper going to the store and posing as a customer. They would spend 10-15 minutes in the store to observe and test the requirements. They would then create a report. The downside to this was cost, caused by the physical time to travel to and from the store.
While traditional methods have played a vital role, a paradigm shift is underway with the rise of remote mystery shopping.
The Summit Innovations solution
Our parent company, DTiQ has developed a solution to conduct the reports remotely leveraging your CCTV assets. We have auditors, assisted by AI algorithms, who log into your CCTV and conduct the desk audit remotely. This is much more cost-effective (often less than 50% of traditional costs). It also allows much wider reporting, as the auditors are not confined to a single time of the day to visit. They can go back over CCTV footage and check other details such as:
- Time of arrival and departure from work
- What is happening back of house
- Are the premises and cash secure (back door closed, safe closed, no cash on manager desk, etc.)
Benefits of Remote Mystery Shopping
The report you get from our mystery shopper event will include video clips of any identified issues. This will provide you with video you can use to train your staff or provide evidence of infractions.
Furthermore, if an issue is identified, our auditing team can take a deeper dive on your behalf and conduct a full investigation into any issue. This is particularly valuable for large multi-site operators where reviewing the data can become time-consuming. We can condense the data for your team into the real issues that need attention.
Leveraging Mystery Shopping for Business Success
Mystery shopping is a valuable part of any successful business’s customer experience management. It’s also a great way to ensure your team has all the training they need to deliver excellent service. These services will directly help you:
- Improve customer satisfaction
- Protect your business and brand
- Improve customer loyalty
- Reduce fraud and theft
- Ensure operational procedures are followed
- Improve your bottom line.
In this era of customer-centric business models, mystery shopping programs are a critical tool for business management. They offer businesses not just a snapshot but a comprehensive overview of their strengths and weaknesses. As the business landscape continues to evolve, mystery shopping becomes imperative for those businesses seeking sustainable success and unwavering customer loyalty.
Ready to enhance the control and supervision of your business with remote mystery shopping? Contact us today to learn more about how Summit Innovations can help.