Secret Shopping Sunday

What is Secret Shopping/Mystery Shopping?

Mystery shopping is a tool used by market research companies to measure quality of retail service or gather specific information about products and services. Shoppers pose as normal customers performing specific tasks (such as purchasing a product, asking questions, registering complaints or behaving in a certain way.) They provide detailed reports or feedback about their experiences (thanks to Wikipedia's official definition).

I have shared a few adventurous secret shopping stories (here, here and here), and I thought it would be kind of fun to post a couple times a month dedicated to secret shopping! From here on out, look for .......

Secret Shopping Sunday

to hear a comical shopping experience or two, which is a weekly activity for me. I also hope that I can give you some helpful hints to getting into secret shopping yourself if you are at all interested.

The hardest thing about getting started with secret shopping is determining which companies provide the best jobs in your area. Whatever you do ... ONLY apply for companies that have the MSPA logo on their website. You can visit the Mystery Shopping Providers Association website here to get further details.

This week, I completed shops varying from inquiring about the new FIOS service at Verizon, took inventory at a couple Quizinos to see if they have the proper marketing materials displayed, enjoyed lunch for two at Ruby's Diner, and visited a couple different banks to see what accounts and rates their promoting.

I also had two shops at Party City (different locations),

and these are my items I walked away with for FREE!!!

You aren't going to get rich doing secret shopping, but I personally, am all for remembering details and following scenerios to get free food, items, etc and additionally make some good chunk change!