Are you observant, detail-oriented, able to communicate clearly in words and writing, and self-motivated?

If that sounds like you, mystery shopping may be a side gig worth exploring.

But experienced mystery shoppers will tell you there is more to it than shopping and getting paid.

These words of insight were shared by members of the generous community of mystery shoppers who choose to work with Confero. They shared what they’ve learned so other shoppers can learn from their experience, too.

So let’s ask the people who actually do it.

What Do People Get Wrong About Mystery Shopping?

“Most do not understand: it’s work. And integrity matters.”

— Nadine, Virginia Beach

“It is fun, but it does require actual skill to adequately complete the forms and the shop accurately.”

— LaShan from West Philadelphia

“They think you just go shopping and get paid. They don’t realize there are very specific requirements, and you must be very observant and remember a lot of details.”

— Rachel from MA

“Mystery shopping is actually a lot of work.”

— Katelyn HE from DC

There it is.

Mystery shopping can be fun. It is also work.

You may get to try a restaurant you’ve never visited, walk through a store you enjoy, attend an event or experience something you might not otherwise have tried.

Then you have to remember what happened.

• What time were you greeted?
• What was the employee’s name?
• Was the promotional sign where it was supposed to be?
• What did the employee say?
• Did you get the photograph you needed?
• And where did you put that receipt?

Enjoying the experience and accurately observing the experience are two different things.

A good mystery shopper learns to do both.

Observation Is a Skill

Most of us move through our day without remembering every detail around us.

Mystery shoppers can’t.

Rachel’s comment gets right to the point:

“They don’t realize there are very specific requirements, and you must be very observant and remember a lot of details.”

— Rachel from MA

You aren’t trying to notice everything. You need to notice the things the client needs you to observe.

That is why reading the client requirements before an assignment matters. You need to know what you’re looking and listening for before you’re standing in the middle of the experience.

Then you need to do something else that takes practice:

Notice without looking like you’re trying to notice.

A name badge may matter. So may a greeting, a display, a wait time or whether a particular question was answered correctly.

The better you know the client requirements, the easier it becomes to experience the assignment naturally while still collecting the information you need.

Can You Explain What Happened?

Observation is only half of the assignment.

You also need to tell someone else what you experienced.

That doesn’t mean you need to be a professional writer. It means your report needs to communicate clearly enough that someone who wasn’t standing beside you can understand what happened.

“Service was bad” doesn’t tell anyone very much.

What happened?

How long did you wait?

What did you ask?

How did the employee respond?

What did you observe that led you to that conclusion?

The details matter because mystery shopping reports aren’t simply about whether a shopper liked or disliked an experience.

Your job is to report what happened.

That gives Confero and the client something useful to work with.

Nobody Is Standing Over Your Shoulder

Mystery shoppers are independent contractors.

Nobody is going to stand beside you reminding you to read the client requirements, leave on time, get the required photograph, keep the receipt or submit the report before the deadline.

That is where self-motivation matters.

So does Nadine’s other point:

“Integrity matters.”

— Nadine, Virginia Beach

That’s only two words, but they carry a lot of weight.

Confero wasn’t standing beside you. The client wasn’t standing beside you. Both trusted you to conduct the assignment according to the client requirements and accurately report what you observed.

And integrity also means understanding what mystery shopping isn’t.

Mystery shopping is not going into a store, obnoxiously filming everyone and everything, and posting it online to share.

That is the opposite of mystery shopping.

You may run across people online who tell you otherwise. Think carefully about the advice you follow.

You weren’t given permission to post employees or other customers online. You weren’t given permission to share the purpose of the assignment or other information the client trusted you to keep confidential.

Mystery shoppers are trusted to observe, blend into the normal customer experience and report what actually happened.

If the advice you’re getting tells you to break that trust, it’s not good mystery shopping advice.

Integrity continues when you write the report.

Sometimes an employee does everything beautifully.

Something sometimes goes wrong.

Sometimes the answer isn’t what you expected.

Report what happened anyway.

Mystery shopping isn’t about manufacturing a problem, embarrassing someone, creating online content or producing a particular score.

It is about observing a real customer experience and reporting it accurately.

That’s what makes the research useful.

 

There Is a Purpose Behind the Details

A shopper may not always know why an assignment asks a particular question.

 

• Why did the client need that time?
• Why did you have to look for that sign?
• Why did the questionnaire ask exactly what the employee said instead of simply whether the interaction was good?

 

There may be a much larger research program behind the assignment that an individual shopper never sees.

L. Nguyen from Arizona understands an important part of that:

“You are not mystery shopping only to find faults with the business. This is to help with improving or recognizing good habits.”

— L. Nguyen from AZ

Cynthia from Oklahoma enjoys the positive side of that responsibility:

“I get satisfaction from being able to share when an employee does a fantastic job.”

— Cynthia from Oklahoma

That’s important.

Mystery shopping isn’t a hunt for mistakes.

• Sometimes the valuable finding is that something is going wrong.
• Sometimes it is that an employee is doing something exceptionally well.
• Sometimes one shopper notices something that doesn’t mean very much by itself—but similar observations from other shoppers begin to reveal a pattern.

Your assignment may be one small piece of a much larger picture.

That’s one reason those seemingly little details matter.

 

The OG Side Gig Takes Real Skill

Mystery shopping was a side gig long before people regularly used the term side gig.

And some of the things that have made it appealing for decades haven’t changed.

You can choose opportunities that interest you. Find assignments that fit around other parts of your life. You may discover new restaurants, stores, entertainment or experiences. And you can earn extra money along the way.

But flexibility shouldn’t be confused with effortless.

Good mystery shoppers observe these standards –

• They remember.
• They communicate clearly.
• They organize themselves.
• They follow client requirements.
• They meet deadlines.

And, as Nadine reminded us, they have integrity.

Those skills help turn an everyday customer experience into useful customer experience research.

So if you’re considering mystery shopping because getting paid to shop sounds like fun, terrific.

It can be fun.

Just bring your powers of observation with you.

 

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