Mystery Shopping has been a very popular practice since the 1940s for companies and market research firms all over the world. Many companies try to find out how their products and services are received and thought of by their customers. What rating does the public give for the products or services the companies provide? Mystery shopping involves a mystery shopper posing as a regular customer and evaluating the goods and services provided by the companies. The findings are then sent in a report format to the companies, which use this data to improve or upgrade their services.
Mystery shopping is made up of some of the very basic tasks or behaviors that all regular customers perform like purchasing a product, registering complaints, asking questions or behaving in a certain ways that customers do. mystery shopping can be used in almost any industry. Some of the best candidates for the practice of mystery shopping are retail outlets, restaurants, movie theaters, hotels, fast food chains, gas stations, banks, apartment complexes, vehicle dealers, health clubs, hospitals and even non-profit organizations and schools.
The Thai economy is mostly reliant on exports which form about 60% of the Thai GDP. Thailand exports products like fish, rice, agricultural products, textiles, automobiles, rubber, computers, electronic appliances and jewelry to name a few. The Thai economy is the 2nd largest in Southeast Asia and it's also the largest exporter of rice. Thai land's economy also gets about 7% of its GDP from the tourism industry. Thailand is considered as one of the premier tourist destinations in the world.
Since Thailand has such a huge business oriented economy, the companies there try to get live, real-time input from customers to improve the product and service standards and provide the marketplace with world class product and service capabilities.
Mystery shoppers are increasing dramatically in numbers these days. Since mystery shopping is also practiced as a part time job by many people, those part-timers, many of them shopping lovers, can satisfy there shopping desire while they make some extra cash by helping out one or more of the mystery shopping companies. These mystery shoppers are registered with the mystery shopping companies, which are hired to evaluate their client's services or goods. The shoppers are given assignments and a list of questions or things to evaluate and record during the shop. The most common observations are:
· Time taken to be greeted
· Hygiene of the business promises
· Compliance with dress code, greetings, signage, etc.
· Speed of service
· Inquiry about some specific services
· Employee information like names, design, etc.
The shopper submits the duly filled in evaluation sheet along with the bills and receipts. Payment schedules vary from company to company. It may vary from 2 weeks to 8 weeks or more.
Some of the very popular mystery shopping companies are SASSIE ™ Mystery Shopping System, Ath Power Consulting, Hello Mirror and Prophet 4. Mystery shopping can help the client companies get the most valuable feedback. For the mystery shoppers it can not only satisfy their craving for shopping but also help them earn a few hundred or thousand in extra cash. Although it requires time and patience and the initial investment (before being reimbursed), the job of mystery shopper appeals to many people and can make a great extra income job.