Successful retailers are those who do not thrive just by having as many new customers as possible but by the frequency of satisfied customers who keep returning. It is here that Mystery Shopping programs can wield a positive impact.
Inflation, soaring gas prices, and heightened supply problems not only add to the woes of consumers but also affect retailers as well. In difficult times, it thus becomes all the more important to offer high standards and an above-average level of services. Successful retailers are well aware that existing customers who come back regularly are more valuable than new ones. Exercising Mystery Shopping regularly is thus a crucial factor for success in retail. Trained undercover shoppers come to the store up to twice a week to make a ground-level evaluation of the customers’ experience. But why does Mystery Shopping make such a big difference?
We've gathered the top 5 reasons why Mystery Shopping has assumed so much importance in retail:
- Mystery shopping in retail boosts customer loyalty
It’s undeniable that customers who have a good experience when buying are more likely to come back than those who have bad experiences. Mystery Shopping, which is primarily a mechanism to monitor customers’ satisfaction quotient ensures that the overall shopping experience is consistently positive. This is because it gives way to regular reviews and multiple studies corroborate that it increases employee motivation – which in turn takes us directly to the second reason.
- Mystery Shopping in retail sharpens the awareness of employees
With the Mystery Shopping process in force, the probability that every buyer could be a mystery shopper is undoubtedly quite high. This helps employees in sharpening their awareness level in delivering services and in making a self-assessment at the same time. This is particularly relevant in economically challenging times. It is important that employees adhere to a certain set of language regulations that should ideally be framed to give convincing answers to the ‘tough’ questions from customers: Why are goods becoming more expensive? What are the delivery difficulties all about? Mystery Shopping, coupled with regular training ensures that employees stick to the usual wording and specifications also.
- Mystery shopping in retail ensures high quality
Regular checks by trained mystery shoppers help discover improvement needs. This not only increases the quality of advice but also the on-site cleanliness and general appearance. No other customer experience evaluation program is as detailed as Mystery Shopping. As part of it, every store is scrutinized, predefined standards are checked and the potential for improvement is effectively measured and reflected in a detailed report. Being a clearly defined process for collection and evaluation, it guarantees a high quality of data.
- Mystery Shopping in retail enables competitive analyses on all channels
Mystery Shopping strives to seek answers to the following questions: How do different locations perform? Why are some services better in one branch than in another? How about customer experience on the website, over the phone, or by mail? Answers to these questions can be easily sought if Mystery Shopping programs are conducted regularly. Internal or industry-related benchmarks make it clear how one's performance compares to other branches or the overall market competition. Trained service testers and sophisticated processes make it possible for Mystery Shopping to be implemented on various channels, thereby revealing the gaps in the customer journey.
- Mystery Shopping in retail identifies training needs
Regular Mystery Shopping is a great way to determine the training needs of employees which consequently paves the way for improving the quality of consulting services and customer satisfaction. For which questions the employees do not have suitable answers? Is it taking too long to ask the customers about their needs? Through Mystery Shopping, answers to all these fundamental and emerging questions can be easily sought.
It won’t be an exaggeration to say: No other measure provides such extensive and detailed results as well as suggestions for improvement as Mystery Shopping. Would you like to test a project at your location? Our colleagues will be happy to be available for a first conversation.
