(For an update and a differnt opinion from a professional mystery shopper visit Mystery Shopping Revisited.)
As we all know service is an important part of any retail business or restaurant. One way that these companies can measure the quality of their service is to have a firm send in people to act as customers and report on their experiences.
That is what a mystery shopper does. Typically a mystery shopper works as a contract worker for an independent research agency. The agency is hired by retail firms and restaurants to provide an objective evaluation of their customer service and possibly other aspects of the business.
These are often projects that cover all or most of the stores in a large national chain. The research firms need to find mystery shoppers within driving distance of each location. If you are registered with one of these firms to do mystery shopping you will likely get a call when they have a project in your area.
Mystery shopper -- Solving the Mystery, you may be led to believe that mystery shopping is more rewarding than it really is. For my real life experiences as a mystery shopper please see A Typical Mystery Shopping Assignment.
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