Mystery shoppers have got themselves a bad reputation in the eyes of many marketing executives, it seems. But there's a new breed, with a new ethics-driven approach.

When talking to colleagues and clients within the industry, we have often been surprised by the views of some on mystery shopping. Certain comments have implied a belief that it falls outside the boundaries of mainstream market research, cynicism stemming from perceptions of poor regulation, low sample sizes, dishonest evaluators and so forth.

Admittedly, some clients have had their fingers burned by failed company-wide mystery shopper programmes - but we genuinely believe that lessons have been learned, and that there is now something of an attitudinal shift taking place in the marketplace.

More and more clients are coming round to the idea that when used correctly, with carrots rather than sticks and a clear transparency about what is being undertaken, mystery shopping can produce fundamental changes in the performance and culture of a company.

We've been to recent conferences where client companies have displayed extreme pride in their mystery shopper programmes, which are an integral part of their company philosophy. The Market Research Society (MRS) also appears to agree, having embraced mystery shopping and developed its own Code of Conduct.

Mystery customer evaluations pride ourselves on our Mystery shopper. We’d be happy to show you what our team of shoppers can do.