This is a humorous work of fiction that was inspired by an actual experience of overly-attentive staff. I am sharing it here with the writer’s permission. No mystery shoppers were harmed in the making of this story.
Everything was normal at Zmart until someone heard a rumor that the corporate office was going to check in on them soon and that a mystery shopper was coming any day. Of course the point of mystery shoppers is that they are supposed to be anonymous and thus treated like a normal customer, but rumors had a way of spreading. And it didn’t matter if those rumors turned out to be false, if they happened to be true, the store needed to be ready.
Greg knew nothing of the secret shopper rumors when he walked into Zmart. It wasn’t like the store could unfurl a banner that said “Welcome Secret Shoppers!” There wasn’t anything else about the appearance of the store that gave him any indication that something was going on. But it didn’t take him long to realize that something was definitely different from his usual trips to Zmart.Continue Reading
There are appropriate and inappropriate ways to handle a poor rating on a mystery shop report. Unfortunately, the manager of a Cape Coral, Florida post office chose an inappropriate way.
As mystery shoppers, we know that employees are expected to say certain things and ask certain questions when they interact with customers. For example, they may ask questions to lead to suggestive selling, such as, “Would you like to make that a combo?” or questions about preferences, such as the kind of bread you want in your sandwich.
When you write a mystery shop report, you are giving the client a snapshot of what happened during your visit. Although some mystery shopper jobs include taking digital photos, most of the time we make the picture of our experience appear through our words.
Have you ever gotten one of those notices on your receipt to call a toll-free number and answer a few questions about your experience at a store or restaurant? Often the business “bribes” customers to participate by providing a coupon good for a discount on their next visit, or by entering them in a drawing for cash and other prizes.
Most people think of stores and restaurants when they think of mystery shopping clients. You know, “get paid to shop and eat.” There are many retail and restaurant chains that use mystery shopping, but it certainly does not stop there.
Elaine Buxton, President of Confero answered some questions for us about mystery shopping for them. Confero provides 
Telephone mystery shops involve calling a client location and interacting with one or more employees over the telephone. Sometimes the entire shop is conducted over the telephone, and in other cases the mystery shop includes both the call and an in-person visit.
Even if you are an excellent mystery shopper and make yourself available 24 hours a day, you won’t necessarily get as many assignments as you would like from any one company. To maximize your opportunities, you should apply to as many companies as you can. Mystery shopping companies understand that, as independent contractors, secret shoppers will market their services to many different companies.