Mystery Shopping and Customer Experience Research Case Studies
Compliance Audits Fine Tune Menu Tests
Compliance audits play a vital role in preparing retail locations for marketing tests. As an example, a quick service restaurant client needed to confirm that a sample of restaurant locations displayed the appropriate merchandising materials for a new menu item. Without the audit, it would be difficult for management to accurately measure the new item’s sales impact.
Confero created detailed auditor guidelines that included clear descriptions of the merchandising materials and photos of correct displays. Auditors used high-quality cameras to photograph indoor and drive thru menu boards at the location. They compared photos to the POP guides to determine if the restaurants displayed the appropriate materials. Later, they ordered the new item and photographed it to provide data on the consistency of the appearance of the new item. Within 24 hours of the visits, they uploaded results and photos for each restaurant location.
Confero conducted the audits within a 5-day timeframe, and the company received results immediately following completion of the review team’s quality assurance step. This quick turnaround allowed the company to ship materials quickly to those locations that did not have the new merchandising materials.
Compliance: Are all Your Customer Service Reps Answering Inquiries with Correct Information?
Our client operated a large customer service center and maintained responsibility for responding to thousands of calls and email inquiries each day. Our client was concerned about the consistency of email responses to customers. In particular, the client was interested in knowing whether email inquiries about the same issue were responded to with the same information.
Confero devised a program that allowed mystery shoppers to anonymously make inquiries without using their personal email accounts. The shoppers asked a series of pre-determined questions, provided by our client, and then made note of how long it took to receive a reply. When the response was received, the mystery shoppers also captured word for word details in the email responses by uploading them into our Compass reporting system. We granted online access to these raw reports to our client, whose team reviewed the responses for technical accuracy and then assigned an accuracy rating to the reply. This allowed our client’s management to evaluate the timeliness, consistency and professionalism of staff email communications. Confero delivered this information quickly via our Compass online reporting system, so that management was able to make adjustments as needed in this important communications area of their organization.
Coupon Compliance: Are Independent Retailers Accepting Your Coupons for a Competitor’s Brand?
Confero often works within tough parameters to get clients the critical brand information they need, and to get it to them quickly. Often times, our client’s own project and reputation are on the line. This is usually the case for projects involving marketing and advertising agencies. Timelines are short, requirements are strict and significant advertising budgets are riding on the results.
As an example, a manufacturing company wanted to learn if stores were accepting their coupon for a discount on a competing brand. If stores were doing this, it would mean that the company was spending considerable dollars to print and distribute coupons which customers were not even using to purchase their product.
To accomplish the project goals, the client engaged Confero to mystery shop roughly 900 convenience stores to test compliance with coupon requirements. Mystery shoppers visited a mix of stores evenly represented by store type, size and type of market (rural vs. urban). Confero’s kitting and fulfillment services allowed the project to include shipments of specific coupon print lots to mystery shoppers who attempted to use those coupons on incorrect products at stores.
Confero completed the mystery shop audits, meeting the specific requirements, and delivered this critical information to the client, on time.
It took us just 24 days from the date of our client’s initial inquiry until the day the final report was delivered. This vital information, delivered quickly, allowed our client to determine whether wave two of the coupon campaign would be feasible and would produce the expected ROI for their own client.
Audit a National Retail Reset: 2000 stores, 2 days notice, 3 days to complete
Sometimes, you need to know quickly if something is not going well. Our marketing agency client was responsible for monitoring the merger of two national consumer electronics brands and orchestrating the accompanying national resets of the re-branded, merged products. No small task. Confero was engaged to conduct audits to ensure that electronics stores were displaying a correct point of purchase materials associated with the merged, re-branded products in advance of a national advertising campaign..
Confero engaged field auditors to telephone audit over 2,000 stores located throughout the U.S within a 3 day time period. The auditors spoke with the managers and asked if the store had received and placed the required materials in end cap displays. They also asked if the stores received related promotional gift cards. For quality assurance purposes, Confero recorded the calls and listened to them prior to releasing the results to the client. Stores with deficiencies of POP inventory or those experiencing delays or missing parts were reported to the client immediately. Confero collected, reported and conveyed the information on all locations on time, and our client was able to deliver missing materials quickly and within the promotional time frame.
This entire project, start to finish, took 5 days.
Trend Spotting: Integrate District Manager Reports and Mystery Shop Data
A quick service restaurant chain needed to mystery shop to regularly assess customer service, cleanliness and food quality. In addition, the firm’s own district managers were auditing individual units during routine visits. Back at company headquarters, an administrative staff was responsible for compiling the information from the district manager’s reports. Then, with the data compiled, results from mystery shops were compared with results from district manager audits. Confero presented a solution in which the district manager reports were entered directly into Confero’s COMPASS system. This allowed quicker capture of the information and quicker distribution of it. In addition, it allowed for direct comparisons on the mystery shop results alongside the district and eliminated the need for administrative data entry. The quicker responses produced enhanced analysis and allowed the chain to see that district managers rarely reported visits to units at less than 80% for audit results. The reason? Audits scores of less than 80% required remediation visits within 3 business days. The chain was able to change its approach to audit requirements and information as a result of this program.
