Mystery Shopper's Manual

  • Blog
  • About
    • Privacy/Disclosures
  • The Mystery Shopper’s Manual
  • Mystery Shopping Companies
You are here: Home / Mystery Shopping Clients / Why Are Some Locations Mystery Shopped While Others Aren’t?

Why Are Some Locations Mystery Shopped While Others Aren’t?

March 25, 2014 by Cathy Stucker

mystery-shop-locationsA question from a mystery shopper:

When I view the available mystery shops on job boards, I see a bunch of stores and restaurants that I would love to shop. But the locations that are close to my house are never listed! Why do they only shop some of their locations and not all of them?

There are several possible answers to this question, so let’s take a look at them.

First, even though they are the same brand, they may have different ownership. Let’s say there is a fast food chain called Steve’s Burgers. Many of their stores are franchised, but Steve’s owns some of the stores themselves. They may mystery shop only the company-owned stores, or only the franchised locations, but not both.

The client may only want shop reports on locations where there have been problems of some kind. They want to monitor any progress and continue to watch for issues that need to be addressed.

Some clients only mystery shop a portion of their locations in any given period. For example, they may do shops at locations 1, 4, 9 and 12 in January, then 2, 5, 8 and 11 in February, and 3, 6, 7 and 10 in March. If you are only looking at postings at one point in time, it may be that you happened to look at a time when that location was not in rotation to be shopped. In other situations, the selection of locations may be more random.

When you look at a job board you do not necessarily see every shop that mystery shopping provider has. You are seeing the ones that are available and that they wish you to see. You often won’t see the ones that other shoppers have already claimed. And there are many shops that never make it to a job board, as they are offered and assigned to shoppers without being posted.

There are a few things that you can do to possibly get to shop one of the locations you covet.

First, there may be another mystery shopping company offering assignments at the locations near you. Apply to as many companies as you can in order to have access to as many mystery shops as possible.

Ask the scheduler. If there is a location you really want and you never see it on the job board, ask if they have it. Schedulers are busy, so don’t pester them with a lot of questions like this. Only ask about your dream shops.

Make yourself a valuable shopper. If you do your assignments on time and do a great job, you will see more opportunities come your way. Those may include the specific locations you are looking for, or you might get some very pleasant surprises. You may get so busy with great shops that you no longer want to take the time to chase specific clients!

Filed Under: Mystery Shopping Clients Tagged With: Clients, Mystery Shopper Jobs

« Staying Safe While Mystery Shopping
Why Does it Take So Long to Get Paid for Mystery Shops? »

Mystery Shopping Companies

Updated 4/20/18! Access my free curated list of more than 150 legitimate mystery shopping companies.

Scam Warning

If you received a check or money order with instructions to cash it and wire money to someone, DON'T DO IT! This is a scam.
Click here to learn more about
mystery shopper scams.

Get ‘The Mystery Shopper’s Manual’

NEW 7TH EDITION!

Get your personally autographed copy of The Mystery Shopper's Manual here.
mystery-shoppers-manual-3d

Connect with Cathy

Follow Me on FacebookFollow Me on Google+Follow Me on TwitterFollow Me on LinkedInFollow Me on YouTubeFollow Me on PinterestFollow Me on RSS

Recent Articles

  • Do Millionaires Mystery Shop?
  • Mystery Shopper Resolutions
  • Mystery Shopping for Mystery Shopper Pros
  • Keep the “Secret” in “Secret Shopper”
  • The McDonald’s Receipt Hack

Categories

Applying to Mystery Shopping Companies Customer Service Dealing with Mystery Shopping Companies Dealing with Shopping Emergencies Employees and Mystery Shopping Grammar and Spelling Green Mystery Shopping Hazards of Mystery Shopping Holiday Mystery Shopping How to Become a Mystery Shopper Identity Theft Independent Contractor Issues Industry News Make Money Online Memory Improvement Money and Mystery Shopping Mystery Shopper Certification Mystery Shopper Ethics Mystery Shopper Fun Mystery Shopper Jobs Mystery Shopper Scam Mystery Shopper Scheduling Companies Mystery Shopper Secrecy Mystery Shopper Taxes Mystery Shopper Tools Mystery Shopping Clients Mystery Shopping Company Mystery Shopping Pay Mystery Shopping Providers Association Mystery Shopping Recordkeeping Mystery Shopping Resources Online Security Opportunities for Mystery Shoppers Preparing for the Mystery Shop Profitable Mystery Shopping Secret Shopper How-To Secret Shopper Quick Tips Secret Shopping and the Law Secret Shopping Confidentiality Sticky Secret Shopper Situations Technology and Secret Shopping Types of Mystery Shops Video Mystery Shopping Working Online Writing Mystery Shopper Reports

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 · Cathy Stucker

Copyright © 2023 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in