Would You Pass A Mystery Shop?
You may have heard of the term “Mystery Shopper” or “Secret Shoppers”. A mystery shop can either be carried out by a third-party agency, such as market research or retail agency. Or the head office of a corporate chain. The process involves someone visiting a store, following the normal process that a shopper will go through. Including engaging various members of the team. It’s then their job to rate the experience afterwards. The feedback from this experience is reported to the Human Resources departments of Retail stores in order to improve the store and team for future customers. Along with ensuring staff are correctly trained and enhancing the overall experience in-store. In many circumstances, mystery shoppers are asked to rate the store appearance, tidiness, whether point of sale is correctly displayed and how it is merchandised. If put under a secret investigation, would you pass the secret shop test?
Ensuring Your Store Is Mystery Shop Ready
You will never know when a mystery shopper will drop by. After all, that is why they are a mystery. However, they are looking to see you are delivering standards of customer service and presentation that the shareholders and company owners are expecting you to be delivering on a day to day basis. So, it should not be too much of a shock if you discover you have had a mystery shop. But what should you do to ensure you and your store are ready to dazzle any mystery shopper that visits your store?
The first rule of a great store is that presentation counts. Make sure you have all your promotional graphics installed correctly and cleaned. A great store front display (it is the first thing they see after all!) is vital. Along with innovative well-presented point of purchase displays. This will not only impress customers but will go a long way to ticking boxes for the mystery shopper’s criteria. Retail graphics and window graphics from AGRetail are printed to a high standard and clarity. This ensures they do not fade or deteriorate, which will be unmissable to everyone.
On top of great presentation, customer service from everyone in your store should be to consistent high standards. Although retail can be very busy, and it can be difficult to find time to do everything, it is important to remember that the customer comes first. When a customer approaches you for help, the priority is to provide the care that will make them feel valued. If, by chance, this happens to be a mystery shopper, your feedback to head office will be great, and if not, you will have gained another loyal customer, helping keep your business successful.
