Taking the mystery out of mystery shopping

Mystery shopping is an established insight method used by marketing research companies. Mystery shopping dates back to the 1940s, when a research company called WilMark started hiring private investigators that went undercover as employees to stop theft in the workplace. Today, the method is used for significantly different purposes. Briefly put; trained researchers go undercover, and evaluate the experience at stores, points of sale, restaurants, and other locations of interest. The problems start when mystery shopping is erroneously assumed to be the source of genuine consumer or customer data. This article takes the mystery out of mystery shopping, celebrating the value of Shopper insight that is directly linked with real consumers.

Undercover researchers are not real customers

Typically, mystery shopping researchers go through several pages of instructions, internalizing detailed KPIs to track on the spot, and other content before making a mystery shopping visit. They are briefed with detail for their work in advance. They often travel to the mystery shopping location from other area, and their travel expenses and hotel stays are compensated by their employer, the research company. These people do not have a genuine connection to the product or service that is being evaluated, they do not typically live on the location, or they do not have a real connection to the store that is being visited.

So, what does this mean? If the research objective is to execute a fact-based audit, the method is perfectly viable. If the objective is to evaluate something based on a specific, preset criteria where the subjective view of real consumers (/customers) are not needed, it is all good! However, if the objective is to understand consumers; what is their decision-making process, drivers and motifs, and triggers of purchase at the POS, mystery shopping is the perfect method to waste money and source false data. Just like credible weather forecasts come from meteorologists, credible customer insight comes from customers. Not from professional researchers.

Just like credible weather forecasts come from meteorologists, credible customer insight comes from customers.

46 000 real Shoppers across Finland

Consumers’ attitudes, reactions, thoughts and desires are of paramount interest for all companies. How the store layout renewal impacts on customers’ experience and flow at the store? What shelve slots are the best for sales, and why? What factors drive purchases at the point of sale, what hinder them? What factors fuel online sales and improve the UX at the web store?

Crowst has 46 000 registered Shoppers, real consumers across Finland, living their lives and shopping as needed.

We all buy, consume, and have our preferences. When we are in a store, we are Shoppers. We have a real reason to be there, we are there regularly because we live in the neighbourhood, and we typically buy something we need. Crowst has 46 000 registered Shoppers, real consumers across Finland, living their lives and shopping as needed. This is the foundation for sourcing solid qualitative, viable insight that enables optimizing retail performance and sales. There is no mystery here.

Read more on our Shopper insights here, here, here and here. Are you interested in learning how real consumers and customers see your products and services at POS? Contact us, let’s talk!