Becoming A Secret Shopper

Interested in Becoming A Secret Shopper?  

Hundreds of retail stores, restaurants, hotels, fast food franchises, and many other businesses around the world rely on mystery shoppers to tell them how their business is operating and how customers are being treated when they aren’t around. They get impartial opinions on what is really happening, and they can use this input to make changes to better their business.

Your job as a secret shopper would be to go undercover and pose as a customer, perform a relevant action such as make a purchase or eat a meal, and then report on your experience. This job is great for anyone who requires a flexible schedule. You work as much or as little as you want, and choose only the job assignments you want to accept.

There has been a sharp growth in the secret shopper industry over the past decade, and it continues to grow at about 11 – 12 percent each year. Recent estimates place the US mystery shopping industry at approximately $800 Million. Secret shoppers are beginning to find jobs in a wider range of venues, from spas and ski resorts to zoos and theme parks.

For more information on becoming a secret shopper, you may want to check out some of the articles listed on the right. When you’re ready, be sure to check out some of our top rated secret shopper networks.

A “Secret Shopper Network” is a database of companies who regularly seek and recruit secret shoppers. As a member of a network, you’ll have access to hundreds of companies who are willing to pay you to shop, eat out, watch movies, etc. Although you don’t have to join a network to become a secret shopper, it’s a fast and easy way to start receiving secret shopper jobs from hundreds of companies.

Participating in market research is similar to being a secret shopper. In its simplest sense, you get paid to evaluate something (usually a television commercial) and give your opinion. These jobs are fun, and the pay is GREAT! The downside is that the frequency of jobs from any one particular company is low, and these companies are hard to come by. Unfortunately, there are no ‘market research networks’ like there are for secret shopper companies. Luckily, I’m going to give you a company which you can sign up with absolutely free. It’s called Open Minds. I’ve been on the Open Minds consumer panel for a few years now. Here is a little from my experience:

They call me once or twice a year to participate in a ‘survey’. They ask you a few questions over the phone to see if you qualify to participate (I’ve only ever not been eligible to participate once). If you qualify and agree to partake, you will have to visit their office at the set day & time (they have lots of time slots available for your convenience). If you agree to participate, you MUST attend, and be on time, or they will probably never call you back for another opportunity.

Once at their office, they will assign you to a computer, where you will have to watch about 3 commercials, and then answer a set of questions usually related to only one of the commercials. You give your input as to what you liked or disliked about the ads, what parts were interesting or boring, what you remember most, and such. They say it takes about an hour to complete, but in my experience I have always finished within 30 minutes. They pay about $40 - $50 right away upon completion! Every once in a while, you might be invited to participate in a focus group which pays considerably more than the individual surveys. I have only ever been invited to a focus group once, it payed $80 for one hour.

I know that this type of work is more along the lines of “paid surveys” than “secret shopping”, but it’s a lot more fun than the typical paid online surveys that have become increasingly popular on the internet.  If you are interested in learning more about paid online surveys, check out this very popular paid online surveys site.  

To join the consumer panel at Open Minds, simply visit
http://e-callroom.com/respondents/index.cfm and click on “sign up”.

If you know of any other similar market research groups, please share them here.

The secret shopping industry has grown radically within the past decade, thanks in part to the exposure it has received via the internet. Current estimates (as of January 2008) place the US mystery shopping industry at $800 Million, and this figure is growing at about 11 to 12 percent a year. This growth is even more significant when you consider the fact that growth in the retail industry is down 50% from two years ago. The decline in the retail sector may have actually contributed to the growth in mystery shopping as many stores are realizing that customer service could help keep some customers and potentially attract new ones.

Another contributing factor to the growth of the secret shopping sector is the increase in the industries that have begun to use secret shopping services. Secret shoppers are now being employed in a wide range of venues, from spas and ski resorts to airports and even zoos.

With the growth of the secret shopping industry has come an increase in the need for secret shoppers. This means good news for current secret shoppers or anyone looking to become a secret shopper!

It’s contest time! Secret-Shopper-Review.com would like to thank its many fans by offering 2 lifetime memberships to our number one rated secret shopper network, Shop Until You Drop (see review here). This is your chance to become part of one of the largest secret shopper networks absolutely free!  If you’re not sure what a secret shopper network is, click here to learn more.

How to Enter
To enter for your chance to win, simply reply to this post (by clicking here) and briefly state why you want to be a secret shopper and/or why you think you would make a good secret shopper.  

Two Ways to Win
The best entry received (judged by Secret Shopper Review admin) will win the first membership. The second winner will be selected at random from all received entries.

Contest Deadline: All entries must be received by Feb. 28^th 2008 to be considered.

Chances of winning depend on amount of entries received.

Judging and draw will take place during the first week of March. Winners will be contacted by email and announced on Secret-Shopper-Review.com

Good Luck To All!

Once you have begun to work as a secret shopper, you might find it useful to bring along with you a digital voice recorder (or even a tape recorder for that matter) on your secret shopper assignments. The voice recorder is not meant to record your interactions while on site, rather simply to allow you to record your thoughts and important points immediately after you leave the site (actually it is very important not to have anything like a voice recorder exposed during your visit in order to maintain anonymity). Recording notes immediately after your visit makes it much easier for you to gather your thoughts and ideas when it comes time to writing your report. If you do not have a voice recorder, you may substitute a plain old fashion pen and paper in place, although it might be a valuable investment to purchase a voice recorder once you start receiving many assignments.

If you are a student mystery shopper, you may already have a voice recorder for school, so make sure you take advantage of it and use it during your secret shopper jobs as well.

Some individual stores may hire secret shoppers directly. Retail stores usually have a centralized department running from their main office. One way to obtain secret shopper jobs would be to contact these companies directly and let them know you are interested in becoming a secret shopper.

A much easier way to obtain many jobs is to sign up with a reputable secret shopper network. These networks typically have relationships with thousands of companies who require mystery shopper services. There is a small fee required to sign up with these companies (around $25) but you’ll more than make this up on your first assignment. This fee is charged by the network to give you direct access to all of the companies in their database. There are two key advantages to joining a network

1)      Access thousands of companies looking for secret shoppers. Get more assignments that you can accept.

2)      All companies in the network have been tested to ensure protection against fraud.

If you are serious about becoming a secret shopper, joining a network is a worthy and necessary investment. Before joining any network however, be sure to read our review on the top secret shopper networks out there.

If you are currently part of a network which you would recommend to others, or have any comments on any networks or experiences you have had in the past, please comment and share your opinions. Thank you.

You might be wondering “why would someone pay me to shop at their store”? The truth is that the corporate executives of retail stores, restaurants, hotels, fast food franchises, and many other businesses around the world rely on secret shoppers to tell them how their business is operating and how customers are being treated when they aren’t around. They get impartial opinions on what is really happening, and they can use this input to make changes to better their business.

These executives know that when they are on site, the employees are tripping over their own feet to ensure everything is as it should be. They also know that when they leave and no one is around to keep an eye on things, things can get pretty slack. This is the reason why they need secret shoppers.

Believe it or not, the information provided to the CEO’s by mystery shoppers is much more valuable to them then the some $40 that they dish out to get that information. The information collected by secret shoppers is so significant that employees have actually been terminated as a result of the reports. If you do become a mystery shopper, it is important to remember to be honest and fair, and not to give a bad review simply because you can.

Finally, although mystery shopping is a legitimate job, you must be cautious of who you accept jobs from. People have been scammed in the past by companies that hire mystery shoppers, have them go to their stores and buy products, and never reimburse them for the purchase or pay them for their time. The best way to avoid being scammed is to register with a reputable mystery shopping network, who will then connect you to their established and trusted partners.

So you’ve decided you want to become a secret shopper. You’ve searched online and found the company that you want to join (check out the top secret shopper network reviews for more options), and now all you have to do is fill out the application. This post will help you in your application process.

Becoming a secret shopper will require an application likely made up of two parts- your personal information and work history, and a simple test (the companies want to make sure they hire competent people). The test usually involves basic skills tests, ethics and integrity tests, and maybe some reading comprehension tests, so be prepared, but don’t worry too much, it’s easy! Part of your job as a secret shopper will be to read information and instructions sent to you by your employer, and to then provide a quality assessment of your experience during your “assignment “.

One part of the application will talk about the importance of remaining anonymous- so that no one will actually know that you are a secret shopper (which will allow you to get a proper analysis of the site). If the employees suspect that you are a mystery shopper, they will change their normal behavior to try and impress you and get a good review, which basically defeats the purpose of the assignment. You should never bring your paperwork with you to a site, as this can alert the employees and can raise suspicions.

When you receive an assignment, you are expected to complete it by the specified date and time, and turn in all reports promptly. If you regularly have problems completing and turning in reports on time, you might be relieved of your position, or you just won’t get any new assignments. If you sign up with a secret shopper network, this might not bother you since you have access to hundreds of companies for which you can work, but you should try to maintain a good work ethic anyway. Life isn’t always a bed of roses however, and should you encounter any problems, you should contact your employer as soon as possible, just like any other job.

You must answer all given questions, and not leave anything blank. Un-clear answers or unanswered questions may result in you not getting paid, or losing future jobs.

You should maintain all your contact information and make sure it is up to date at all times. This simply ensures that you are receiving jobs, and getting paid for jobs completed. Most employers will communicate with you via email.

Different companies process payments differently, but it is usually on a monthly basis. Most companies will pay you by check, however some companies may now pay you via PayPal if you prefer.

Becoming a secret shopper is fairly simple. Most of the people who take the job seriously are successful and earn a good supplement (or part time) income.

Mystery shopping is an excellent job for college & university students, and stay at home moms. One of the main advantages of working in this field is having the freedom to chose when you want (or don’t want) to work. For stay at home moms, this job is great because it allows them to take their kids with them to work!

Your job as a secret shopper is to go undercover and pose as a customer. While on site (could be a restaurant, shop, theatre…) your job is to inspect certain aspects of the business, the employees, customer service, cleanliness, product quality, etc. and remember this information. Once you leave the site, you are responsible for writing up a report on your findings and submitting it to your employer. These reports get passed on to the respective clients, who use the information gathered by you to make changes in the facility and better the overall service/product quality.

You would probably be surprised to find out the number of companies that actually use the services of secret shoppers. In your experience as a mystery shopper you will likely be sent to restaurants, retail stores, hotels, banks, gas stations, movie theatres, and even the grocery store.

Some assignments may require you to purchase a product and review the buying experience as well as the product itself. In these cases you would get reimbursed for the full purchase as well as get to keep the product. Although mystery shopping is a lot of fun and has many benefits, you must remember that it is a job, and you must take it seriously.

The next article discusses the application process involved in becoming a secret shopper and is meant to guide you smoothly through the process, as well as provide some on the job tips.