Can Men Be Secret Shoppers?

Question from a mystery shopper:

I am interested in becoming a mystery shopper, but it seems like mystery shopping is for women only. Can I be a mystery shopper even though I am a man?

Sure! In my non-scientific observation, it appears that nearly 90% of mystery shoppers are female, but both men and women can be mystery shoppers. In fact, at times you may have an edge as a male shopper.

Although many mystery shops can be done by almost any shopper, in some cases the client will ask for shoppers that meet a certain demographic profile. For example, they might want shoppers to be between the ages of 25 – 40, have a family income within a specified range, have a child under the age of six, or some other qualification. This is so the shopper matches up with the profile of the client’s typical customer.

Most of the time, it does not matter if the mystery shopper is male or female; however, there are some shop assignments where a male shopper is required or preferred (for example, a men’s clothing store). Because there are relatively few male shoppers, when the shop guidelines call for a male shopper, there is less competition.

A related question I sometimes get is this: Most schedulers are women, so do they prefer to work with shoppers who are also women?

In my experience, schedulers prefer to work with the secret shoppers on whom they can depend. The mystery shoppers who are professional, reliable and do good work are the ones who will be favored by schedulers.

So, guys, come on in—you can be mystery shoppers, too!