Mystery Shopper Checklists
Discreetly accomplish mystery shopper checklists and efficiently submit mystery shopper reports anytime anywhere
Discreetly accomplish mystery shopper checklists and efficiently submit mystery shopper reports anytime anywhere
Published 5 Aug 2021
A mystery shopper checklist is a tool used by secret shoppers to assess and record customer experience feedback. Used by organizations and companies for internal checks or competitive market research purposes, mystery shopper checklists help evaluate the performance of retail establishments, restaurants, hotels, and many other businesses.
This general mystery shopper checklist is used to record a mystery shopper’s overall impression of an establishment. Document unbiased observations on the establishment’s customer service, environment, product quality, and overall customer experience. This template helps assess the following:
Complete the audit by listing your recommendations, opportunities for improvement, and overall impressions. Capture photo evidence for comprehensive reports. You can use this mystery shopping checklist for restaurants, retail, and other business establishments to complete mystery shopper surveys. Feel free to modify this for your particular industry or business use-case. Click on the sample mystery shopper report in PDF or web format to view the sample report.
Also called mystery shopper forms, mystery shopper checklists typically cover multiple areas of an establishment such as customer service, cleanliness, product quality, overall layout, and compliance with safety regulations, service guidelines, and business procedures.
In this article we will discuss the following:
A mystery shopper, also known as a secret shopper, ghost shopper, or anonymous shopper, is usually an agency-employed individual hired by companies to go to actual business premises and provide insight into a typical customer experience. Generally, mystery shoppers “secretly” visit commercial establishments, observe operations, complete specific transactions, interact with staff, and submit reports to employers.
Mystery shopping is a marketing technique used by businesses to collect information that can improve the quality of their products and services. A mystery shopper, or mystery customer, usually does secret shopping to help companies identify areas for improvement to gain an edge over competitors. Mystery shopping can also assist in evaluating the performance of customer-facing employees and verifying compliance with brand standards.
Mystery shopping checklists contain a list of questions that can guide mystery shoppers on what to do and what to observe during the actual mystery shopper survey. Here are what mystery shoppers typically observe:
Mystery shoppers are usually asked to observe the physical features of an establishment—location, signs, parking, cleanliness, ambiance—and provide feedback. This helps determine if an establishment is on-brand and aligned with overarching business goals.
How the staff interacts with guests and customers, the employees present, and the overall treatment that the mystery shopper receives from the establishment are usually recorded on the mystery shopping checklists to assess if the service provided in an establishment is meeting business expectations and following protocol.
Mystery shopping checklists ultimately will ask the mystery shopper questions that help assess the quantity and quality of products and services offered at establishments. Feedback from mystery shoppers can provide a unique perspective on the level of quality currently available and can be an opportunity for the business to determine strengths and opportunities for improvement on goods and services.
Since mystery shopping is a legitimate market research activity, organizations typically outsource their secret shoppers from credible mystery shopping companies. Depending on the industry and scope of work, listed below are three of the most common types of mystery shopping jobs in today’s global marketplace:
Hotel Mystery Shopping
Hotel mystery shoppers are more often referred to as mystery guests, and they usually stay in hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, resorts, and spas. Hotel mystery shopping aims to help hoteliers improve foundational processes such as check-ins and check-outs, reservations, and bookings. Mystery guests in hotels can also assess in-house facilities, room service, and overall cleanliness.
Restaurant Mystery Shopping
Restaurant mystery shoppers normally lookout for the top two elements that set food service establishments apart: food quality and customer service. Restaurant mystery shopping enables restaurateurs to discover behaviors that boost customer satisfaction, resulting in customer loyalty. Moreover, details of secret shoppers’ dining experiences can help identify gaps in training needs and standardize restaurant operations.
Retail Mystery Shopping
Arguably, the most common type of mystery shopping involves retailers such as supermarkets, department stores, and clothing outlets, among others. Retail mystery shoppers tend to focus on the path to purchase, employee behavior, and store appearance. Retail mystery shopping can provide valuable information to build positive customer relationships on the frontline, increasing sales and retention.
Mystery shopping is done by an organization hiring a secret shopper as a customer entering their own or a competitor’s business to grade a product and/ or service offering. A good mystery shop or visit will set specific information-gathering objectives. Here are some examples of how mystery shopping is usually done:
Mystery Shopping Example Scenario #1:
If a restaurateur aims to gauge the overall customer experience, then he/ she would ask the mystery shopper to simply visit the restaurant, order a meal, and generally grade the experience. The mystery shopper would typically be asked to assess the restaurant’s appearance, waitstaff, food, and timeliness.
Mystery Shopping Example Scenario #2:
If a retailer wants to evaluate the handling of returns, they would normally be more specific and set detailed instructions for the mystery shopper to follow. For example 1) purchase a specific item; 2) leave the store; 3) return to a different attendant; and 4) make a specific statement to the attendant about the purchase error. The mystery shopper would then be asked a series of questions grading the overall experience.
Whether it is general or specific information-gathering mystery shopping, a checklist is typically used to ensure consistency in measuring experiences.
With the global economy evolving toward omnichannel commerce, mystery shopping has never been more vital as a sales and marketing tool for retailers. Customers in the digital age can also easily broadcast their experience with a certain brand—whether good or bad. Maximize the following benefits of mystery shopping in an organization:
While mystery shopping in one’s environment or competitors’ premises has become more prevalent over the years, it is undeniable that there are a few caveats to this industry practice. Disadvantages of mystery shopping include, but are not limited to:
Having weighed the benefits and disadvantages of performing a mystery shop, consider the following tips with guide questions when setting up a mystery shopping survey or self-assessment for your company:
Set Your Goals: What do you want to achieve?
Do you intend to check on how your products and services fare versus your competitors’ products and services? Do you want to know if standards rolled out recently are being followed by frontline staff? Will you keep the secret shopping secret or will you let the word out that employees should expect a mystery shopper anytime?
Know the Costs: How much will you spend?
Will it be more cost-effective if you have your internal market research team do the mystery shopping or will it be better to hire the services of a mystery shopping company?
Prepare Instructions: What should you observe?
What questions should you ask? Work closely with your market research team or with your partner mystery shopping company and formulate a list of to-do and questions that you intend your mystery shopper to fill out.
Utilize Tools: How can you “secretly” shop?
A mobile device is more discreet and convenient than a piece of paper. Secret shoppers can use a mobile app like iAuditor by SafetyCulture to fill out pre-made industry checklists. With iAuditor, mystery shoppers can generate and submit detailed reports even before leaving commercial establishments.
Mystery shopping is a way to put your ears on the ground and better understand how your products and services perform versus that of your competitors. It helps you identify areas for improvement and observe how employees go about doing their tasks in the workplace. Done right, mystery shopping can help improve your company’s standing and gain that edge over your competitors.
iAuditor by SafetyCulture can help your mystery shoppers work on-site more efficiently and replace paper-based questionnaires and forms with a digital checklist app. Capture feedback in real-time with the use of your mobile device or tablet. With iAuditor you can:
To get started, we have compiled these mystery shopping checklists that you can download for free and customize according to your business needs. These checklists cover hotels, restaurants, retail establishments, cafes, and more.
This comprehensive Hotel Mystery Shopper Checklist is composed of 8 sections and can be a guide for the complete inspection of a hotel. Use this template to evaluate arrival and accommodation experience, the management, and the hotel bar and restaurant services. Provide ratings for each section and also enter notes for comments and recommendations.
Use this Retail Mystery Shopper Checklist to evaluate retail employees on their adherence to the standard practices of the company. This checklist covers employees' attitude and behavior when assisting and acknowledging a customer. Use iAuditor when performing your audits and generate a comprehensive report on how to improve on retail services.
This Restaurant Mystery Shopper Template can be used to evaluate if the 1) atmosphere, 2) food service and accommodation, 3) restaurant staff and 4) management comply with best practices and standards. Use iAuditor to give an overall visit rating and provide your recommendations. Provide guests a high level of service.
This cafe mystery shopper survey focuses on the overall experience of customers. It is used to evaluate ambiance and whether or not baristas and other staff follow set procedures to provide the best possible service. It's also used to check the condition of the establishment, the tools used and provided, and can be used to provide a general observation to complete the survey.
