Mystery Shopping UK

Legitimate or Not?

When many people hear the term ‘mystery shopping’ they automatically think it’s a scam. Almost everyone has seen an advertisement on the web claiming that they can make thousands of dollars every month by mystery shopping or filling out surveys online. Then, when they try to sign up, they are subjected to a tedious process where they have to sign up for a variety of different offers, or they are told they have to pay a fee to sign up with the company. This tends to turn people away from the companies that do offer legitimate mystery shopping opportunities and opportunities for paid online surveys. However, sifting through all the garbage to find the legitimate companies can prove to be beneficial for those who take the time to do it.

The Purpose of Mystery Shopping

Many retail businesses depend on mystery shoppers and online surveys so they can discover current market trends. It also allows business owners to more fully understand where their company is lacking and what areas they need to focus on when training and hiring employees. Companies use mystery shoppers who are independent contractors from the more reputable market research businesses when they want to know what the average customer thinks of their products, prices, and customer service.

What’s Involved

Mystery shopping usually consists of accepting an assignment, visiting the store, and filling out a survey upon completion. The assignments will differ in certain aspects, like whether the shopper will reveal the fact that they are mystery shopping, whether a purchase will need to be made, and the amount of time they must spend in the store. Most of the time. the shopper will be paid for the visit in addition to being reimbursed for the item or items they purchased.

The online questionnaire that is filled out once the mystery shopping is completed will basically be a summary of the shoppers experience during that visit. They will be asked about specific things like the names of anyone who helped them, the time of the visit, what they purchased, and the cleanliness of the store and parking lot at the time of their visit. There are some companies that will only want the survey to be filled out online, and will require no actual mystery shopping visit. These surveys are made available to a broader number of participants who will all be rewarded for the time they spend filling out the survey. You can find a list of such surveys sites here.

Compensation

Mystery shopping can be a rewarding experience for everyone involved. The shopper can earn some residual income for each assignment that they complete, the business can be made more aware of what areas their business needs improvement in, and the mystery shopping company can boast another satisfied customer. As a bonus sometimes the shopper is also allowed to keep whatever products they were asked to purchase at a store during their assignment.

List of UK Mystery Shopping Companies

Here is a short list of legitimate UK mystery shopping companies:

• GAPbusters Worldwide
• KSS International
• Martiz Research

Filling out online surveys is another way that businesses can get information about what customers want, and the person who fills out the survey can get some extra compensation for taking the time to complete the survey honestly and completely. Both avenues are there to ensure a higher level of customer satisfaction.