Mystery Shopping: Beyond Stores

When we hear about Mystery Shopping, we have a clear picture in mind: a person who has been properly trained visits a particular store in search of a product. When approached by an attendant, the person then begins to analyze the client services, posture, cordiality, uniform and knowledge about the product. During the visit, the Mystery Shopper will also be able to check if the place is clean, organized, as well as if there is any kind of exposed sales material, how long wait for the product to pay, and finally, what the cashier is like.

What many still do not know is that the Mystery Shopping can be applied in several market sectors in addition to the retail itself.

Where there is service, there is a customer and, consequently, there may also be a Mystery Shopping! So now imagine, how many other places could and should be evaluated. Several, do not you think?

Let’s think about the country’s education sector. According to Inep (National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira), Brazil has more than 2,300 public and private higher education institutions.

Those who have passed through a university know how difficult it is to receive adequate service, either to answer a simple question or even to change course or institution. There are many comings and goings, lack of preparation, bureaucracy and so on. The problem is that, often, this perception does not reach the ears of the administration and can never be solved. Just a quick search on the internet to check that many cases end up getting forgotten.

See how interesting it can be to mysteriously evaluate the service of these institutions and how the insights generated can be valuable to brands. With the information in hand, institutions can focus on what they really need and direct their investments to improve and make service better and more responsive to satisfy their customers.

This is the first article in the “Mystery Shopping: Far Beyond the Store” series. In the next editions we will cover other sectors of the market, such as: hotels, bars and restaurants, automotive, banking and the like.

Do you have any questions, comments or suggestions? Send an e-mail to our sales team at vendas@bareinternational.com. It will be our pleasure to serve you!