Mystery shopping

Mystery shopping is a participant observation technique in which a trained evaluator poses as a customer and records, in a structured way, what happens during the interaction: waiting times, service protocol, product knowledge, store condition or complaint handling.

Unlike satisfaction surveys, which capture customer perception, mystery shopping measures compliance with specific standards. Afiches designs the evaluation checklist with the client, assigns evaluators matching the required profile and documents every visit with evidence.

• Monitoring service standards across chains and branches.
• Assessing phone, chat or online sales channels.
• Comparing performance between branches, regions or franchises.
• Checking prices, displays and product availability.
• Measuring the effect of training or a process change.

1. Evaluation checklistWe define the criteria, the scenario for each visit and the scoring system.
2. EvaluatorsWe select and train evaluators who match the target customer profile.
3. Visits or contactsEvaluators carry out the visits, calls or digital contacts.
4. ReviewWe check every form and its evidence before entering it.
5. ReportWe consolidate scores by location, region and criterion.

• Report by location with scores and evidence.
• Ranking and comparison across points of sale.
• Breakdown of non-compliance by criterion.
• Improvement recommendations.