The next time you’re standing at a supermarket counter, and you see a teenage girl behind you in the line, you could be looking at a mystery shopper. Imagine being able to shop till you drop - and get paid for it! Sounds great, doesn't it?

So what is this mystery shopper? A secret shopper is a freelance, professional shopper hired by retail stores, restaurants, malls, banks and movie theatres in order to make sure that customer service is excellent, stores are clean and food quality is up to the mark. There is one catch. You can't disclose your identity.

For instance, suppose "X" company has a franchise or chain of stores. To know the stores performance and its capability, the franchisee asks a mystery shopper to visit that store and do the performance appraisal. These mystery shoppers then give feedback. This concept is used by food chains like McDonalds, KFC and Subway to keep an eye on all their chains and have a centralised food quality check. "You, the undercover customer, get a free meal or reimbursement on your purchase while the company gets to see if the employees are following the correct protocol when dealing with customers," says the branch manager of Bare Associations.

While you don't need to be an expert shopper to make it in this field, the job requires the same skills essential to any support position, namely patience and a perceptive nature. Good writing skills for submitting reports, keen observation skills, are other qualities that will put you on the right track of this amazing career. "It is not that easy being a mystery shopper. Excellent vocabulary and good computer skills are important," he says, before going on to add that, "Time management is essential. If you miss visiting the shop at particular time as instructed you delay your rating points."

So how much one can expect to earn in this field is the million-dollar question. "It depends on the number of trips you make. The more assignments you take, the more you can earn. In the UK, this concept is not very prevalent and so the earnings are not that attractive. But once it catches on, this career will be more rewarding,". "Also, the perks are unlimited. It's just one of the reasons that people find it as a hot career," where else includes free dining, all expense paid vacations, free car rentals, staying free of cost in a hotel, etc.

Video mystery shopper companies can be fun. However, before you shop, you must sign a confidentiality agreement swearing that you won't tell anyone details of the shop, or the company can sue you for leaking their secrets.

Sometimes you also have to perform an undercover sting operation by using the video technology including mobile cameras and spy cameras. Video recording taping of shops saves the report work and you have a video shot as proof of what you have seen. You have to fill online forms and give a report about the place before the given due date. One then gets the cheque at their doorstep and voila they are a part of this mysterious career!

Would your business benefit from Video mystery shopper companies reports. Contact us now for a free evaluation.

Mystery customer evaluation team.