Seven Steps To Designing A Better Mystery Shopping Programme - Ipsos
June 2019Seven Steps to Designinga Better Mystery ShoppingProgrammeBy Nicholas Mercurio and John Flesta
Customer experience has alwaysmattered. Countless researchstudies show that brands whichput the customer first and delivera superior experience relative totheir competition achieve greatercustomer loyalty, higher profits andbetter returns for shareholders.However, the stakes have never been higher thantoday. In the current age of customer-centricity,consistently delivering a positive customerexperience has never been more critical, orchallenging. A convergence of factors – heightenedconsumer expectations, a complex multichannelretailing environment, increased ease of online andmobile shopping and the power that social mediahas given individual consumers—makes deliveringan exceptional customer experience increasinglydifficult. Mystery shopping exists to alleviate theseissues and concerns for organisations.1IPSOS VIEWS MYSTERY SHOPPING SEVEN STEPS TO SUCCESS
WHAT IS MYSTERY SHOPPING?Mystery shopping is an observational researchmethodology that ensures brands consistentlydeliver on the promises they make to customers.It leverages trained “shoppers” to interact withproducts or services across your organisation andreport back with a detailed and objective accountof their experience. Mystery shopping helpscompanies to understand what their averagecustomer is experiencing, discover which staffbehaviours should be acknowledged or rewarded,and find which parts of the sales or customerservice journey can be improved.The results are aggregated and used to identifyand remedy systemic breakdowns of the desiredSo, while it’s important to understand whatand intended customer experience. When usedmystery shopping “is” and how it can benefiteffectively, mystery shopping research can be ayour organisation, it is also important topowerful performance management tool that createsunderstand what mystery shopping is not:awareness around important standards or initiativesand drives organisational behaviour change—all in the spirit of better serving the customer.It is not a way to “spy” on employees to catchthem in the act of doing wrong. It is not a replacement for voice of the customerHowever, in our experience of designing and(VOC) measurement or other forms of directimplementing enterprise-wide mystery shoppingcustomer feedback. (Neither is VOC)programmes, we often find that organisationsa replacement for mystery shopping).misuse the methodology. This results in a Lastly, mystery shopping is not limited toprogramme that does not deliver tangible value tomeasuring compliance to brand standardsthe business or meet the needs of stakeholders.in brick and mortar locations only. Today, amystery shopping programme can be deployedacross any customer channel: in-store,When used effectively,mystery shoppingresearch can be apowerful performancemanagementtool that createsawareness aroundimportant standardsor initiatives anddrives organisationalbehaviour change.telephone (retail location or contact centre), andacross online and mobile touchpoints (website,in-app, email, and so on).GAME CHANGERS2
MAKING MYSTERY SHOPPINGBETTER, BY DESIGNBeyond these methodological considerations,Mystery shopping has moved beyond the tried andwhen we diagnose what has gone wrong withtrue checks and balances at locations, such as:many organisations’ existing mystery shopping“Was the location clean?” or “Did someone greet orprogrammes, we regularly find the issues are rootedthank you?”. Mystery shopping programmes are nowin poor design.testing sales professionals to understand what theyare recommending to customers and why, as well asIn addition to adopting the tactics we warn againsttheir level of knowledge on a particular product.above, we also find that organisations routinely:Meanwhile, mystery shopping aims to to better Ask the wrong questions, too manyleverage technologies and gauge compliance.questions, or questions that are notFor example, the mobile payment space hasimportant to their customers.seen unprecedented disruption with both financialExperience quality issues originating fromand technology players providing consumersshoppers being recognised, which result inwith new means to spend, transfer, and acceptmystery shop inquiries that are time-consumingmoney. Ensuring that the digital wallet productand divert the focus away from makingis fully functioning and accepted at across locationsorganisational improvements.has been critical to customer adoption.Don’t derive real impact or tangiblebusiness value from their programmes—oftenAt Ipsos, we’ve been looking at what needs to be inbecause they focus on the wrong metrics orplace to deliver better design, better execution anddon’t properly analyse results and disseminatebetter impact across mystery shopping programs.programme findings.We have developed seven specific steps anda proven blueprint that can be followed byorganisations, regardless of their prior experiencewith mystery shopping. This guidance will helpbuild a successful programme and increase itsreturn on investment.In this paper, we present these seven simple steps that organisations cantake to make a mystery shopping programme that is better, by design.3IPSOS VIEWS MYSTERY SHOPPING SEVEN STEPS TO SUCCESS
STEP 1:START WITHSTRATEGYSTEP 2:DESIGN WITH THECUSTOMER IN MINDSTEP 3:DEFINE SHOPPER ANDSHOP REQUIREMENTSSTEP 4:DESIGN A SOUNDQUESTIONNAIRESTEP 5:CREATE REALISTIC SHOPPER SCENARIOSAND THOROUGH BRIEFING MATERIALSSTEP 6:FORMULATE A SMART ANDSTRATEGIC SAMPLING PLANSTEP 7:DESIGN ANANALYTICAL PLANGAME CHANGERS4
STEP 1:START WITHSTRATEGYSTEP 2:DESIGN WITH THECUSTOMER IN MINDLike many other research programmes, the absenceOnce a strategy has been developed, the nextof clear objectives that look to solve a specificstep for implementing a better mystery shoppingbusiness question through mystery shopping oftenprogramme is to design with the customer in mind.results in a diluted programme that does not deliverOne common mistake made by organisations isclear value. We recommend that businesses refer todeveloping their programme based on what istheir own organisational strategy for clear directionimportant to them, and not their customer.on their customer-facing initiatives and how youwould like to leverage mystery shopping as a toolFor example, while it might be important to you thatto enhance the customer experience. From there,your employees always wear a nametag, this may notit is possible to define clear objectives that alignbe important to your customers. Instead, it might bewith the strategy and ensure the mystery shoppingmore important that associates are friendly, helpfulprogramme addresses these objectives.and knowledgeable. Furthermore, clean bathroomfacilities or a short waiting time during checkout mightHere are a few thought-starters when looking forbe more important to them than whether the associateinspiration on designing your organisation’s mysteryattempted to upsell them to a more expensive product.shopping strategy:We use various techniques to ensure customer Measuring adherence to specific brandfeedback is properly embedded in mystery shoppingstandards or brand promises made toprogrammes. These include customer journeyyour customers.maps, conducting driver analysis with the customerMystery shopping your competition to bettersatisfaction data, and leveraging focus groups andunderstand best practices and reasons forpilots to inform the programme design. Give thoughtcustomer churn/defection.to key “moments of truth” where you can eitherAfter a new product launch, measuringcreate pain or delight from the customer’s pointtraining effectiveness and/or point of saleof view. What are the customer’s expectationssignage compliance.of you in these moments? Of your competition?Understanding how likely, or unlikely, it isWhat language does the customer use to talkto receive stronger recommendation levelsabout those moments?from your brand’s sales associates versus. your competition.We can also go well beyond these primary researchMeasuring within all the channels that youmethods, such as linking sales data to channelsinvest in: across brick and mortar, contactor individual locations and/or employee data.centres and digital touchpoints such as websiteThe programme may also be tweaked over timeand social platforms.to account for updated training techniques andpromotional activities. But don’t skip this importantstep. When organisations fail to look throughthe customer’s eyes, it often results in adversebehaviours such as “score chasing” instead ofdriving outcomes such as reducing customer churn,improving satisfaction/likelihood to recommend ordriving new customer acquisition and retention.5IPSOS VIEWS MYSTERY SHOPPING SEVEN STEPS TO SUCCESS
STEP 3:DEFINE SHOPPER ANDSHOP REQUIREMENTSThe next best practice is to define the shopper andspecific or underserved segment. This will then leadshop requirements. We often see that companiesto the “personas” that shoppers will need to fit, orare not deliberate or strategic in this step, whichthe scenarios they will need to role play. (More onit often leads to programme results, unnecessarythis in Step 5).costs, or ill-informed insights.After defining the shopper, next is to decide theDefining the shopper requirements starts with“rules” or requirements for the mystery shop itself.identifying the target customer profiles – ideallyThis will include specific points such as the storesthrough customer segmentation data. it is importantyou would like shoppers to visit (or contact centresto consider both demographic and psychographicand locations you’d like them to call), how manyprofiles of the customer base. Knowing that theretimes you want to conduct shops, the time of daywill likely be multiple segments, determine whichor day of week to visit, the length of time theywill be served by the mystery shopping programme.should spend in store/on the phone, whether theyYou may decide to look at a nationally representativewill need to make a purchase, and so on.sample, or decide that there is a need to focus on aGAME CHANGERS6
STEP 4:DESIGN A SOUNDQUESTIONNAIREWith an outline of the shop and shopperThe questionnaire must be kept largelyrequirements, the next step is to design a soundobjective, so avoid subjective, perception-basedquestionnaire. This is the set of questions theLikert-scale questions and opt for discrete,mystery shopper will answer after interacting withbinary questions instead.the brand. It will capture what you are looking tomeasure and should be built in an organised andTo avoid issues with shopper recall, questionnairessystematic manner.should be as short as possible (less than 30questions is ideal) and always tied to the programmeIn our experience, poor questionnaire design isobjectives developed at the outset.the single biggest contributing factor for poorprogramme design and quality issues.Finally, design the questionnaire scoring or weightingscheme by assigning points that are proportionaland based on the importance of each question.STEP 5:CREATE REALISTIC SHOPPER SCENARIOSAND THOROUGH BRIEFING MATERIALSThe mystery shop scenarios and briefingmaterials via short, engaging multimedia clips ismaterials should be designed in parallel withan effective way to illustrate what you want thethe questionnaire. The mystery shop scenariomystery shops to accomplish, while also showingdiffers from the questionnaire as it is the script,the shopper where they may encounter pivot pointssituation or “persona” that the mystery shopperduring the shop scenario.will roleplay while in the store (or on the phone,or online, depending on the interaction). BriefingAlso consider developing an online shoppermaterials serve to train the shoppers on how thecertification to ensure they understand and haveinteraction should play out. This is critical to ensureretained the materials. This gives the organisation anconsistency, quality, and the overall success of theadded level of confidence and credibility on who isprogramme, no matter the size or scale.conducting the mystery shops and the results thatcome back.For years, shopper briefing materials have been7deployed via written instructions that outline eachConducting calibration shops (several test shopsstep of the process. While this can be effectiveconducted by programme stakeholders) is anotherenough, designing a better programme meansbest practice to ensure the planned mysteryleveraging technology across each phase—includingshopping programme is feasible and capturing thethe shopper briefing. Deploying video briefingintended information.IPSOS VIEWS MYSTERY SHOPPING SEVEN STEPS TO SUCCESS
STEP 6:FORMULATE A SMART ANDSTRATEGIC SAMPLING PLANThe next step is to formulate a smart and strategicWe often help our clients “get more, for less”sampling plan. While there is no clear-cut answer toby deploying many of the tactics outlinedhow many shops should be conducted, the numberabove to develop a “smart sampling” approach.of shoppers or scenarios should be deployed, and/This involves combining programme objectives,or how frequently locations should be visited, webusiness or customer data (such as sales orcan say for certain that the “every location, everycustomer satisfaction data) with statistical methodsmonth” method of mystery shopping is obsoleteto determine the volume and frequency of mysteryand will often result in spending more on mysteryshops. Over time, the sample plan can (and should)shopping than is required.be adjusted to meet the changing needs ofthe organisation and customer. This will leadHowever, tying the sampling plan back to strategyto stronger economies of scale and will optimiseand objectives will put you in a better positionthe programme spend.to answer these questions. Whenever availableand applicable, there are several areas worthDesigning a smart sampling plan also involvesconsidering. For example:determining the right channels to shop (brickand mortar, contact centre, or digital) as well as Leverage sales data to potentially shop at thedeveloping the right mix of shop type and complexity.highest (or lowest) grossing locations, as they may warrant more regular measurement.We have helped countless customers optimise theirLeverage customer experience data tobudget by adding geo-location and crowdsourcedpotentially visit lower-performing locationsMicroShops (short, tactical, crowdsourcedmore frequently.mystery shops) into their overall mystery shoppingIf your organisation receives a disproportionateprogramme that can often be executed fasternumber of customer complaints in particularand cheaper than traditional mystery shops.geographies, regions or districts, it may makeOrganisations need information and insights fromsense to mystery shop there more often.the frontline faster than ever before, which theMicroShop technology helps to provide.The ‘every location,every month’ methodof mystery shoppingis obsolete andwill often result inspending more onmystery shoppingthan is realisticallyrequired.GAME CHANGERS8
STEP 7:DESIGN ANANALYTICAL PLANThe last step in designing an optimal mysteryhelp your team validate or refute the learnings at theshop programme is to design an analytical plan.end of a study. Be sure to identify the sub-groups ofToo often, companies rush to field data withoutinformation that analysis seeks to understand– thisgiving proper thought to insight creation, who willcould be a focus on geographies or sales channels,access the results, where and how. This often leadsfor example.to a predicament where results aren’t actionable,or don’t return the answers needed to addressAnother helpful feature to include as you addressa specific business question.and analyse the findings is video feedback andthe creation of a video highlight reel, which will putA full analytical plan must be developed beforeshopper sentiment and the drivers of joy, pain,launching and executing the mystery shops.and/or surprise during the shop at the forefront.This is simply an outline of the reporting deliverableIntegrating video feedback can inspire the C-Suite,you expect to receive upon completion of themanagers, and front-line workers to highlight thestudy, outlining the questions to be answered,impact that everyone in the organisation can have ina hypotheses to these questions, and a topic-by-creating memorable experiences. This method alsotopic assessment of the analytic approaches yougenerates authentic content that can be shared atwill take to get there. A proper analytical plan cancorporate events and through social channels.SUMMARY9A better designed and optimised mysterythe business. Leveraging the tips given inshopping programme will increase thethis paper will help improve the design andlong-term impact of this research method onoperational execution of your mystery shoppingyour organisation. By measuring the properprogramme, but will also drive more impactfulcustomer journey and the right channels, itresults and help to generate true behaviouris possible to drive improvements throughoutchange across your organisation.IPSOS VIEWS MYSTERY SHOPPING SEVEN STEPS TO SUCCESS
Designing a BetterMystery ShoppingProgrammeNicholas Mercurio Senior Vice President, Mystery Shopping, USJohn Flesta Senior Vice President, Mystery Shopping, USwww.ipsos.com@IpsosThe Ipsos Views white papersare produced by the IpsosKnowledge Centre.GAME CHANGERS Game Changers is the Ipsos signature.At Ipsos we are passionately curious about people, markets,brands and society. We make our changing world easierand faster to navigate and inspire clients to make smarterdecisions. We deliver with security, simplicity, speed andsubstance. We are Game Changers.
understand what mystery shopping is not: It is not a way to "spy" on employees to catch them in the act of doing wrong. It is not a replacement for voice of the customer (VOC) measurement or other forms of direct customer feedback. (Neither is VOC) a replacement for mystery shopping). Lastly, mystery shopping is not limited to
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