Mystery Shopping as a Career
Do you love shopping? Are you a stay at home mom? Did you ever wonder if shopping should pay you for the time, energy and monetary investments made? Brace yourself, for that is exactly what mystery shopping companies do.
What is a Mystery Shopping Company?
A mystery shopping companyconducts audits and surveys on retail chains and franchises. It covers a series of stores such as restaurants, department stores, entertainment / leisure activities, online shopping, toy stores, supermarkets and home deco stores.
Who is a Mystery Shopper?
A mystery shopper or a secret shopper employed by these companies is an individual who shops and assesses a product or service store on criteria such as customer service, marketing skills, professionalism, attitude of the management, pricing, store demographics and so on and provides feedback on the improvements a particular store can make.
En route to Successful Mystery Shopping
To start as a mystery shopper, it is important to realise most importantly, not to register online with all available websites. Studies show how most newbie shoppers are likely to spend hours online applying to mystery shopping companieswith their efforts gone in vain.
Most of these companies opt for those with experience and most mystery shopping companies outsource to go-between agents who skim through applications and reject those that lack experience or expertise in the field.
The best way to find yourself a mystery shopping job is to adopt the method used in real job hunting situations – apply to a scheduler or agent as opposed to directly sending your application or resume to the mystery shopping company. Also, keep a close look out for companies that may look like a sham.
It is important to have the right approach to mystery shopping. As any other job, this too is a genuine career as opposed to merely being paid to shop. Also, like most other careers, unless approached with the appropriate mindset, secret shopping would seem like being overworked and underpaid than the commonly held notions of being financially sound, work-at-home, legitimate and flexible job.
While most articles online will portray mystery shopping companies to pay in thousands of dollars, in reality it is not always so, especially for those starting out. Again, it is important to keep a positive attitude in mind. Most secret shoppers do so for the fun of it and as they love shopping, the pay becomes secondary.
Of the few things mystery shoppers should keep in mind, being grammatically sound is very important. For those starting out, ensure that the mystery shopping reports sent in are error-free in the contexts of grammar, spelling and punctuation.
All reports, once edited, receive a grading on ten. If the score is less than ten, a secret shopper may not receive another assignment thereon. On the contrary, as a newbie, be sure to not only shop but also have impeccable reports, if new assignments are to come your way.
Some of the opportunities available for mystery shoppers are to work as an independent contractor, to become a full-time mystery shopper, a part-time mystery shopper, secret shop online and to use hidden cameras and mystery shop.
What is a Mystery Shopping Company?
A mystery shopping companyconducts audits and surveys on retail chains and franchises. It covers a series of stores such as restaurants, department stores, entertainment / leisure activities, online shopping, toy stores, supermarkets and home deco stores.
Who is a Mystery Shopper?
A mystery shopper or a secret shopper employed by these companies is an individual who shops and assesses a product or service store on criteria such as customer service, marketing skills, professionalism, attitude of the management, pricing, store demographics and so on and provides feedback on the improvements a particular store can make.
En route to Successful Mystery Shopping
To start as a mystery shopper, it is important to realise most importantly, not to register online with all available websites. Studies show how most newbie shoppers are likely to spend hours online applying to mystery shopping companieswith their efforts gone in vain.
Most of these companies opt for those with experience and most mystery shopping companies outsource to go-between agents who skim through applications and reject those that lack experience or expertise in the field.
The best way to find yourself a mystery shopping job is to adopt the method used in real job hunting situations – apply to a scheduler or agent as opposed to directly sending your application or resume to the mystery shopping company. Also, keep a close look out for companies that may look like a sham.
It is important to have the right approach to mystery shopping. As any other job, this too is a genuine career as opposed to merely being paid to shop. Also, like most other careers, unless approached with the appropriate mindset, secret shopping would seem like being overworked and underpaid than the commonly held notions of being financially sound, work-at-home, legitimate and flexible job.
While most articles online will portray mystery shopping companies to pay in thousands of dollars, in reality it is not always so, especially for those starting out. Again, it is important to keep a positive attitude in mind. Most secret shoppers do so for the fun of it and as they love shopping, the pay becomes secondary.
Of the few things mystery shoppers should keep in mind, being grammatically sound is very important. For those starting out, ensure that the mystery shopping reports sent in are error-free in the contexts of grammar, spelling and punctuation.
All reports, once edited, receive a grading on ten. If the score is less than ten, a secret shopper may not receive another assignment thereon. On the contrary, as a newbie, be sure to not only shop but also have impeccable reports, if new assignments are to come your way.
Some of the opportunities available for mystery shoppers are to work as an independent contractor, to become a full-time mystery shopper, a part-time mystery shopper, secret shop online and to use hidden cameras and mystery shop.
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