Mystery Shopping
and POS/Store Check
Business context & TGM Solution
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A Mystery Shopping study is a method used by organizations or brands to assess the customer service or the consumer experience of companies and highlight any shortcomings or gaps. It is also a way to verify the company's standards, uniformity in the quality of service and to check compliance with legal and safety procedures.
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A mystery shopper (or secret shopper) uses the service as regular customers and personally experience all of the interactions they can have with a brand's environment. (From customer service to sales, the general environment of the point of sale, product trial, after-sales service, the website, etc.). The employees serving them do not know that they are dealing with interviewers.
Usually, the Mystery Shoppers are required to perform a task (purchasing a service and asking specific questions, leading to the implementation of a procedure) and, using a specially prepared list of issues, analyzes what desired Customer Experience elements took place and which did not. They also evaluate their impressions; these can be, for instance, the clarity of the rules of the service presented but also compliance with the company's best practice; an example of that would be how the employee greeted or took care of the security of the customer data.
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As part of the mystery shopping research, mystery shoppers undertake an unexpected incognito visit in the store as an average customer in order to understand the visibility of your brand and improve it. The Mystery Shopping research will include an analysis of the location of the product, the packaging and the colors, the availability of the product or the range, the selling price, the positioning on the shelves and the attitude or possible recommendations of the staff on your products. The visit of a mystery shopper also makes it possible to compare all these variables with other competing brands and shops.
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Having a big recognized brand with leading products and services is not enough. The experience of the end consumer when they visit a point of sale to purchase your product and services has a major impact on the purchasing decisions in the future and whether you will benefit from word of mouth recommendations. It is, therefore, essential to regularly study and track the performance of your brand based on the criteria of the consumer experience.
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Mystery shopping is indispensable in the Internet era. Today, more than ever before, services and products are rated by customers, and each stumble will have its trace in the search engine or on the Brand’s Fan Page on social media. Putting effort into CX and in safeguarding the good word of mouth becomes a necessity, as so much depends on whether the customer visiting your shop will like what you have to offer. Therefore, mystery shopping research becomes not a cost but an investment if you wish to protect the reputation and future of your business.
VARIOUS MOTIVATIONS OF MYSTERY SHOPPER STUDY
Being a regular consumer
Usually, the Mystery Shoppers are required to perform a task (purchasing a service and asking specific questions, leading to the implementation of a procedure) and, using a specially prepared list of issues, analyzes what desired Customer Experience elements took place and which did not. They also evaluate their impressions; these can be, for instance, the clarity of the rules of the service presented but also compliance with the company's best practice; an example of that would be how the employee greeted or took care of the security of the customer data.
Checking on many fronts
Keeping the customer satisfied
The strength of word of mouth in the Web
Why work with TGM Research on Ad Testing & Advertising Campaign Research?
Mystery Shopping and store check can be a long-term process (or even a never-ending one). To ensure the greatest level of comfort for our customers, during on-going Mystery Shopping studies and Store/POS checks, we take on the organizational burden, both in terms of coordinating subsequent stages of the study and coordinating work in several markets at once (if necessary). Using our accumulated experience in conducting research globally, we will do your multi-country Mystery Shopping and POS/store check research as well as handle all across country coordination.
If you want to easily work with the results of the Mystery Shopping/POS & Store check study and see them live, we can tailor the Power BI Dashboard to your company's needs. We can define KPIs and smartly use advanced analytics and provide various teams in your company with indicators that are important to them in the tracking research. Results will be available live, 24/7, for people with access to the different parts (defined by you) of the dashboard. Online Dashboard from the Mystery Shopping/POS & Store check research is also an easy way to keep employees/branches evaluation well organized in one place.
We use a variety of qualitative and quantitative tools to research ideas, processes, services and products, thanks to which we learn about your customers’ opinions on a deep level. Depending on your needs, we will propose the most effective research tools and methods as well as methods of processing the Mystery Shopping/POS and store check research results. We will suggest the best way to analyse important client touchpoints and get powerful insights from them. Thanks to our experience, we also understand that each distribution network has its own specificity. We will adapt the action plan to the nature of your activities and possible restrictions resulting from contracts with stores, suppliers, sales representatives.
Our operations are mainly online, and thanks to that, we have acquired in-depth knowledge about running an online business properly. Our start-up approach gives us a fresh perspective and knowledge of the latest techniques and research tools. So if you wish to conduct a Mystery shopping research on your service on the Internet, we are ready to create it for you in accordance with the latest possibilities. We can also support you with UX research.
With the affordability of our services, you can increase the number of iterations with the same research budget and proceed with agile sprints with your concept testing. We also propose a bundle of credits for even higher economies of scales, to simplify your invoicing process and increase process turnaround. Save your money and take advantage of the opportunities we provide.
We mostly conduct multi-country research; therefore, our accumulated experience allows us to deliver high-quality results almost anywhere. While working with TGM, 120+ markets, with access to 3.3 billion consumers, will be at your fingertip. We are aware that a mystery shopper's opinion determines the evaluation of other people's work and what business decisions will be made. Hence, the mystery shopping research we conduct is with people who have been previously verified by us. We do this to provide you with the best and most accurate results.