Mystery shopping is a legitimate way to make money; however, if you received a large check and were told to wire money somewhere, don't do anything until you read about mystery shopping scams.

What Wire Transfer Companies Can Do to Stop Mystery Shopper Scams

Posted on April 27th, 2010 in Mystery Shopper Scam by Cathy Stucker

Dr. Linda Eagle of the Edcomm Group Banker’s Academy was recently interviewed by San Francisco’s KGO-TV Consumer Reporter Michael Finney for a 7 On Your Side story exploring the actions wire transfer companies are taking to stop financial scams. With the amount of money appropriated from scams in the US reaching $24 million in 2008, the story reported that many scams are still going unnoticed at money transfer companies across the country. …continue reading What Wire Transfer Companies Can Do to Stop Mystery Shopper Scams

Keep Your Secret Shopper Profiles Up to Date

Posted on April 23rd, 2010 in Applying to Mystery Shopping Companies,Dealing with Mystery Shopping Companies by Cathy Stucker

Each time you apply to a mystery shopping company, you fill out a shopper profile. The profile includes your contact information, demographic information about you (e.g., birthdate, gender, marital status, etc.) as well as specific things the mystery shopping company needs to match you to client requirements. These questions might include the ages of your children, if you own a digital camera or voice recorder, if you wear glasses, etc. Of course, MSPA member companies will want to know your MSPA certification status.

The information in your profile may be used to determine whether or not you receive a particular shop offer, so it is important that it is current and correct. Make sure you update your profile when: …continue reading Keep Your Secret Shopper Profiles Up to Date

A New Era of Mystery Shopping

Posted on April 6th, 2010 in Industry News,Mystery Shopper Jobs by Cathy Stucker

Guest post by Jeff Hall, CEO, Second To None

The recession that began in 2007 has affected the mystery shopping industry. Not long ago, traditional shopping assignments were abundant, requirements were straight forward and payments were generous.

What a difference a few years make.

Many retail and restaurant operators have experienced measurable declines in revenue, as a rising unemployment rate and general economic anxiety have forced consumers to tightly manage spending habits. As brands have struggled with losses, many have reconsidered the resources allocated to market research and within this environment, mystery shopping.

This era has also ushered in a new corporate mindset regarding the value of market research, with increasing emphasis on custom research projects. Our firm has witnessed a shift toward non-traditional applications of mystery shopping—the type of assignments that demand significant preparation, instore interactions and increasingly complicated cognitive and observational requirements.

Today’s economic environment has forced businesses to assess their own operational performance through increasingly complicated mystery shopping efforts. While businesses continue to recognize the value mystery shopping adds via critical business intelligence, end-user (client) expectations are becoming more sophisticated.

What impact does this have on service providers, and shoppers?
…continue reading A New Era of Mystery Shopping