Mystery Shopping

Table of Contents

Mystery Shopping Services in Nigeria

What is Mystery Shopping?

Mystery Shopping is a methodology deployed by a market research firm or company to obtain information about a subject under review. A person can be hired called the mystery shopper, who goes to the location or business, poses like real customers and takes notes its observation and documentation. It may be as simple as a phone call, or online, assessing the quality of service, specific behavior, and pricing. The mystery consumer’s specific identity and purpose are generally not known by the establishment being evaluated

What do They do?

Many mystery shoppers operate as independent contractors for marketing research firms, assuming the role of regular customers during their assignments. These marketing research companies provide detailed guidelines for each visit, tailored to the specific assignment. For instance, when visiting an electronics store, Pam might be tasked with posing specific questions to salespeople to assess their knowledge about the latest smartphone models.

In some cases, mystery shoppers go a step further by capturing photographic or video evidence of their experience. While physical store visits are common, mystery shoppers may also conduct assignments via phone or online platforms.

Typically, these visits require anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Following the visit, mystery shoppers carefully evaluate their experience, documenting how they were treated and what they observed. Subsequently, they submit their evaluations, often accompanied by supplementary materials like receipts, to claim their compensation. Whether they are expected to make actual purchases and retain specific items or services varies depending on the nature of the assignment.

Benefits of Mystery Shopping

Increased customer satisfaction and thus more regular customers, as well as the advantage of attracting new ones
Increase in customer satisfaction, attraction of new customers
Profits, Sales and Market Share Increases
Employee compliance with company standards are assured
Employees are motivated to always be professional to all customers
Strengthens customer-employee relationship and benefits the customers.
Weaknesses in service delivery spotted and corrected before it is too late
Business Planning, Customer service standards revision are supported.
Supports understanding, anticipating customer value and why they buy faster.

The Significance of Mystery Shopping: Why You Need the Services of a Mystery Shopper

Mystery shopping is an invaluable tool that can have a transformative impact on businesses and individual customer experiences alike. It involves deploying trained evaluators, often undercover, to assess various aspects of a business’s operations.

Here’s why both businesses and individuals should consider employing the services of a mystery shopper:

For Businesses:

Quality Assurance: Mystery shopping provides a unique opportunity for businesses to maintain and enhance service quality. It allows them to gain insights into the customer experience, identifying areas that require improvement and reinforcing those that excel.
Customer-Centric Approach: By embracing mystery shopping, businesses can demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction. It helps in aligning company practices with customer expectations, resulting in higher loyalty and retention rates.
Employee Training and Development: Mystery shopping reports offer constructive feedback on employee performance. This feedback can be instrumental in tailoring training programs to address specific skill gaps and improve overall service delivery.
Competitor Benchmarking: Businesses can gain a competitive edge by benchmarking themselves against rivals in the industry. Mystery shopping allows companies to understand how they measure up in comparison, highlighting areas where they can outperform competitors.
Operational Efficiency: Identifying operational inefficiencies, bottlenecks, or compliance issues is crucial for business sustainability. Mystery shopping helps in recognizing and rectifying such issues promptly.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Objective data collected by mystery shoppers empowers businesses to make informed decisions based on real customer experiences. This data-driven approach can lead to better strategic planning.

For Individuals:

Consumer Empowerment: Mystery shopping enables individuals to contribute to better service standards by providing valuable feedback to businesses. It allows consumers to actively participate in shaping the quality of the services they receive.
Financial Benefits: Some individuals engage in mystery shopping as a part-time gig or side hustle, earning compensation for their evaluations. This can be an attractive way to supplement income or receive free products and services.
Improved Shopping Experiences: By participating in mystery shopping, individuals can play a role in improving the overall shopping and service experiences for themselves and others in their community.
Influence Business Practices: Mystery shoppers have the opportunity to influence businesses positively by highlighting areas that require attention. This can lead to businesses addressing issues and enhancing customer satisfaction.

Generally, mystery shopping is a win-win approach, benefiting both businesses and individuals. For businesses, it’s a strategic tool to enhance operations, customer satisfaction, and profitability.

For individuals, it’s an opportunity to influence service quality, earn rewards, and actively engage in improving the consumer experience. In an era where customer feedback is paramount, mystery shopping stands as a valuable practice that fosters continuous improvement in the business world.

Qeeva Mystery Shopping: Enhancing Buying and Customer Experiences Since 2006

Prominent brands recognize Customer Experience as a crucial strategic advantage, setting them apart in the competitive landscape. With over a decade of experience, Qeeva empowers you to tap into the full potential of Customer Experience and foster ongoing business enhancements—whether in-person, online, through call centres, within apps, or wherever your business operates.

Let’s Shop For You

Our Advantage

Qeeva Advisory specializes in empowering businesses, regardless of their size, to enhance both employee and customer experiences, thereby bolstering their reputations. Our mission is to foster repeat business, customer loyalty, and increased sales while transforming customers into enthusiastic advocates of their brands. You can confidently rely on our wealth of experience spanning more than a decade to achieve your customer-centric goals. Our advantage includes:

Extensive Geographical Reach
Insights from Industry Pioneers
Comprehensive Approach
Diverse Viewpoints
Proficiency in Survey Development
Cutting-Edge Technology
Exceptional Quality with a Perfect Completion Record
Personalized Field Representative Supervision
Thorough Field Representative Training
Competitive Pricing

Terminologies Used in Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping, a specialized field aimed at evaluating the quality of customer experiences, comes with its own set of terminologies and jargon. These terms are essential for both mystery shoppers and businesses to effectively navigate the practice. Here are some key terminologies commonly used in mystery shopping:

Mystery Shopper: An individual hired to act as a regular customer and evaluate various aspects of a business, including customer service, product quality, and adherence to specific criteria.
Client: The company or organization that requests mystery shopping services to assess and improve its operations.
Briefing: Detailed instructions are provided to mystery shoppers before they undertake an assignment. The briefing outlines the objectives, evaluation criteria, and specific tasks to be performed.
Scenario: A scripted situation or storyline that mystery shoppers are instructed to follow during their evaluation, simulating a real customer interaction.
Report: The comprehensive documentation submitted by a mystery shopper after completing an assignment. This report includes observations, feedback, and findings based on the evaluation criteria.
Compliance: The degree to which a business adheres to specific standards, guidelines, or instructions outlined in the mystery shopping assignment.
Narrative: A detailed written description provided by the mystery shopper to convey specific observations and interactions during the evaluation.
Reimbursement: Compensation or reimbursement provided to a mystery shopper for any expenses incurred during the evaluation, such as purchases or travel costs.
Reveal: The process where mystery shopper identifies themselves to business staff after completing their evaluation, often to provide feedback or complete the assignment.
Scorecard: A standardized form or checklist used by mystery shoppers to rate various aspects of the customer experience, typically on a numerical or scale-based system.
Interactions: The specific encounters, conversations, or transactions between the mystery shopper and business employees, are assessed during the evaluation.
Covert: The secretive and discreet nature of mystery shopping, where the mystery shopper avoids revealing their true identity or purpose during the evaluation.
Reactivation: A follow-up assignment or visit to the same business location by a mystery shopper, often to assess improvements or changes made based on previous feedback.
Scheduler: A representative from a mystery shopping or market research company responsible for assigning and coordinating assignments with mystery shoppers.
Incentive: Additional compensation or rewards offered to mystery shoppers for outstanding performance, adherence to guidelines, or completing challenging assignments.
Understanding these mystery shopping terminologies is crucial for both those conducting evaluations and businesses seeking to leverage the valuable insights provided by mystery shoppers to enhance their customer experiences and operations.

Our Process
At Qeeva Advisory, we recognize that every industry presents unique challenges, and we are committed to customizing our approach to meet your distinct requirements. Our approach encompasses the following key principles:

Consultation

We initiate our client relationships with meaningful conversations. Drawing upon our extensive cross-industry expertise, we gain a comprehensive understanding of the specific challenges you face.

Evaluation

Once we grasp your goals, we embark on a thorough information-gathering and analysis phase. This process aims to comprehensively frame the factors pertinent to your challenges and objectives. This stage typically includes:

Company Assessment: Understanding your brand, strategic objectives, and past initiatives; analysis of training materials and customer satisfaction data.
Market/Competitor Assessment: Identifying market trends, your competitive landscape, and competitor strategies.
Customer Assessment: Mapping the customer experience and identifying key attributes driving satisfaction and loyalty.

Customization

Informed by our in-depth understanding of your challenges, we draw upon a spectrum of proven services and industry-leading best practices to design your program. Our surveys are meticulously crafted to pinpoint the unique factors that differentiate your brand and delight your customers.

Additionally, we can integrate data from various facets of your organization, yielding consolidated reports that pinpoint strengths and opportunities from diverse sources.

Execution and Evaluation

Our meticulous preparation during the design phase ensures seamless implementation. Throughout this stage, we continually measure, analyze, and enhance the key drivers influencing customer satisfaction, advocacy, and return intent. Data-driven decision-making is pivotal for sustainable performance enhancements.

Data Analysis

We understand that data is valuable only when transformed into actionable insights. Leveraging our technology and market research expertise, we employ statistical analysis to interpret findings and quantify their impact on profitability. The result is actionable insights that empower your organization to foster customer delight and drive profitability.

Ongoing Enhancement

Our entire process is a continuous cycle of improvement. We make incremental refinements at every stage, ensuring we consistently deliver the most effective and actionable services and solutions. Our commitment is to enable your organization to continually enhance customer experiences and achieve limitless profitability.

Our Services

Our Mystery shopping services are divided into 3 categories Customer-centric, Business-focused and Employee-centered solutions.

Calling to make use of the service
Visiting as a Guest
Purchasing the products
Seeking to advise
Making Complaint
Reviewing your competitors’ Competitive Advantage
Review compliance with Standards
Using Secret Videos, Photos

Customer-Centric Services

Mystery Shopping Services

Discover the authentic customer experience of engaging with your business. Obtain invaluable insights that enable you to delight customers at every location and touchpoint.

Customer Intercept Interviews

Uncover the reasons behind customers leaving empty-handed and proactively address their unmet desires and needs. Gain a profound understanding of areas where you can take action.

Customer Satisfaction Research

Loyal customers stem from satisfied ones. Understand what your customers are saying about your company, actively listen to their desires, and deliver on their expectations to foster positive word-of-mouth.

Business-Focused Solutions

Customer Experience (CX) Consulting

Leverage our wealth of experience and expertise to identify strategies for enhancing customer experiences and achieving your internal objectives.

Competitive Intelligence

Attain comprehensive insights into your competitors’ performance, products, and services. Swiftly address your shortcomings, capitalize on strengths, and distinguish yourself in the market.

Compliance Audits

Ensure essential foundational elements, such as accurate product placement and pricing, are upheld consistently.

User Experience (UX) Mapping

Chart your customers’ journeys through interactions with your product, service, or brand. Gather invaluable feedback to refine and optimize their overall experience.

Employee-Centered Initiatives

Employee Satisfaction Surveys

Reduce employee turnover and boost productivity by attentively listening to constructive feedback from your staff. Identify improvements suggested by employees that promise the highest return on investment.

Internal Evaluations

Achieve success from within your organization. Empower managers and front-line supervisors to exemplify and assess behaviours that significantly contribute to customer delight and sales.

Rewards and Incentive Programs

Recognize the impact of positive reinforcement. Implement on-the-spot rewards for employees who exhibit exceptional customer service and performance, fostering a culture of excellence.

FAQs

How Can My Business Benefit from Mystery Shopping?

Mystery shopping offers several benefits to businesses. It allows you to assess and improve the quality of customer service, identify areas for operational enhancement, and gain valuable insights into customer experiences. By understanding and addressing customer concerns, you can enhance loyalty, drive repeat business, and ultimately boost profitability.

2: Is Mystery Shopping Suitable for Small Businesses in Nigeria?

Yes, mystery shopping is adaptable to businesses of all sizes, including small enterprises in Nigeria. It provides an affordable and effective means to assess and elevate customer experiences. Small businesses can use mystery shopping to pinpoint areas for improvement, enhance customer satisfaction, and compete more effectively in the market.

3: What Industries in Nigeria Can Benefit from Mystery Shopping?

Virtually all industries in Nigeria can benefit from mystery shopping. Retail, hospitality, healthcare, banking, and telecommunications are some sectors where mystery shopping is commonly employed. It helps businesses in these industries assess service quality, gather customer feedback, and align their operations with customer expectations.

In need of a Mystery Shopping expert? Reach Out to Us via call at +234 8023200801, 08075765799 or email: info@qeeva.com or fill out our contact form[contact-form-7 id=”6161ec0″ title=”Contact us”