Mystery Shopping

What is Mystery Shopping?

Mystery shopping is a technique long used in retail where researchers pose as service users to experience the service from the users’ perspective. Researchers can be in or out-of-house, or actual users themselves can be recruited for the exercise.

What does Mystery Shopping achieve?

Mystery shopping allows for the exploration of the service from a different perspective. It lets the researcher feel what it is like to be on the other side of the counter or on the other end of the telephone.

It can provide managers with invaluable firsthand feedback of how a service is delivered and experienced by the customer.

When will we use a Mystery Shopper?

We will use a mystery shopper when we are:

seeking to understand users' perceptions and behaviour;
setting service standards;
checking that services are being maintained and delivered consistently;
measuring service performance.

further information

Last Updated:
24 August 2004