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Mystery shopping is a process by which a company measures its own quality of sales and service, job performance or regulatory compliance by having a researcher pose as a customer and report their experience.
Mystery shoppers typically mirror common consumer behaviors to test the consistency of the habits deemed important to a specific brand or industry. Mystery shoppers, who primarily operate as independent contractors or , submit detailed reports and feedback about their experiences.
The method is also used by marketing research companies to gather specific information about a market or competitors, including products and services.
Mystery shopping can take the form of physical visits to business premises, or calling companies to evaluate their customer experience (often called mystery calling or customer experience research calling).
As a measure of its importance, customer/patient satisfaction is being incorporated more frequently into executive pay. A study by a U.S. firm found more than 55% of hospital chief executive officers surveyed in 2005 had "some compensation at risk," based on patient satisfaction, up from only 8% to 20% a dozen years ago." Health Care Taps 'Mystery Shoppers' at Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2006 In the United Kingdom, a Mystery Shoppers Practitioners' Group has been established under the auspices of the Market Research Society.Morrison, L. J., Colman, A. M., & Preston, C. C., "Mystery customer research: Cognitive processes affecting accuracy," Journal of the Market Research Society, Vol. 39, 1997, pp 349-361.
Additionally, since 2010, mystery shopping has become abundant in the medical tourism industry, with healthcare providers and medical facilities using the tool to assess and improve the customer service experience. Mystery shopping new trend in Medical Tourism, Novasans
A 2011 survey by American Express found a clear correlation between a company's attention to customer service and customers' willingness to pay more for good service.
CBC Television's news magazine program Marketplace ran a segment on this topic during a January 2001 episode.
The Trade Organization for Mystery Shopping Providers, MSPA has defined a Code of Professional Standards and Ethics Agreement for Mystery Shopping Providers and for Mystery Shoppers. Other organizations that have defined standards for Mystery Shopping are ESOMAR, MRS and MRA. The most widely used set of professional guidelines and ethics standards for the Market Research industry is ISO.
In the state of Nevada, mystery shoppers must be licensed by the PILB board and work under a company that has a private investigators license in order to perform mystery shopping jobs. Unlicensed mystery shoppers may face fines.
In June 2008, the American Medical Association's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs released a recommendation on the use of "secret shopper patients". The Recommendation: "Physicians have an ethical responsibility to engage in activities that contribute to continual improvements in patient care. One method for promoting such quality improvement is through the use of secret shopper 'patients' who have been appropriately trained to provide feedback about physician performance in the clinical setting." However, in 2009, the council decided to withdraw the report "in light of further testimony heard at the 2008 Interim Meeting of".
Trading Standards conducts underage sales testing (mystery shopping tests) on businesses, using child volunteers, to find out which traders are selling age-restricted goods to children. The tests, which are carried out using strict national guidelines, are undertaken to ensure traders are complying with the law. If a trader sells to the child volunteer, an investigation will take place which may involve legal action being taken.
Also in the United Kingdom, mystery shopping is increasingly used by local authorities, and other non-profit organizations such as housing associations and churches, to provide feedback on user satisfaction.
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