Mystery Shopper Checklists
Discreetly accomplish mystery shopper checklists and efficiently submit mystery shopper reports anytime anywhere
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Published December 17th, 2020
What is a Mystery Shopper Checklist?
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.
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:
- Mystery shopper questions
- Powerful mystery shopping checklist tool
- Mystery shopper checklists you can download and use right away
Mystery Shopper Questions
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:
Physical features
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.
Staff
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 in order to assess if the service provided in an establishment is meeting business expectations and following protocol.
Goods and services
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.
Mystery Shopper Checklist App
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:
- Have secret shoppers discreetly and conveniently observe and gather feedback
- Create comprehensive reports by capturing and attaching photos to your report
- Save hours in writing reports. iAuditor can generate reports as you finish a questionnaire or form
- Immediately share your report to members of your organization. Preview a sample report.
- Edit iAuditor mystery shopper templates to fit the specific needs of your mystery shopping questionnaires
- Use for free with small teams. Unlimited reports and storage for premium accounts.
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.
Top 5 Mystery Shopper Checklists
General Mystery Shopper Checklist
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:
- Evaluation of the business’ location and ambiance
- Quality of customer service
- Service/product availability and quality
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.
Hotel Mystery Shopper Checklist
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.
Retail Mystery Shopper Checklist
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.
Restaurant Mystery Shopper Checklist
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.
Cafe Mystery Shopper Checklist
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.
