Different Methods of Mystery Shopping
As mentioned previously, the principles of mystery shopping can be applied to any way in which prospective customers can interact with your brand. This means the methods will vary from industry to industry. However, the most popular methods are:
- In-person mystery shopping
- Telephone mystery shopping
- Virtual mystery shopping
- Multiple touchpoint [hybrid] mystery shopping
In-Person Mystery Shopping
Arguably the most common type, and likely what you imagine when you think of mystery shopping, is when a secret shopper visits a location armed with predetermined criteria which they use to measure the staff and businesses performance. This kind of shop can take anywhere from minutes to hours depending on the nature of what is being measured, the purpose of the shop, and the businesses specific type of industry.
In-person mystery shops are great for businesses where a shopper can present themselves as a potential customer without causing any suspicion. As a result, they are mostly used by the following industries:
- Retail
- Restaurant
- Petro-Convenience
- Banking
- Fitness
- Personal Electronics
- Hotel
- Health Care
- Automotive
Telephone Mystery Shopping
An alternative to physically visiting a location is for secret shoppers to call in to a business. This kind of mystery shopping is heavily used to assess call centres, but shouldn’t be overlooked by any business who can be reached by phone as it’s important that your customers have the same level of experience regardless how they interact with your brand.
Telephone mystery shops can mimic anything from completing a remote purchase to simply calling for additional information. This type of secret shopping is primarily used by the following industries:
- Call Centres
- Hotel
- Travel
- Tourism
Virtual Mystery Shopping
Virtual mystery shops, sometimes called internet mystery shops, are when a secret shopper engages with a brand online. As we’ve seen in our Changes in Consumer Habits Reports, online shopping has been on a steady rise and is showing no signs of receding – making this type of program increasingly important.
These virtual shops are conducted by a secret shopper who assesses how responsive a company is online, how easy their website is to navigate, or how they interact with customers on social media. Similar to telephone mystery shopping, virtual mystery shopping should not be overlooked by any brand with a digital presence, but is most commonly used by the following industries:
- Travel
- Telecommunications
- Automotive
- Real Estate
- E-Commerce
Multiple Touchpoint [Hybrid] Mystery Shopping
Many companies require multiple types of mystery shopping to accurately measure their overall customer experience [CX]. As we mentioned at the beginning, your mystery shopping program should mirror how your customers interact with your brand.
This method is great for assessing alternate purchasing methods such as curb-side pickup and 3rd party delivery. Hybrid mystery shopping involves secret shoppers following an entire customer journey - from the internet to the telephone to a live experience.
Depending on the nature and size of your business, many companies benefit from hybrid mystery shops, but they are most commonly used by the following industries:
- Banking
- Travel
- Health Care
- Hotel
- Real Estate
- Automotive