How mystery shopping detect retail challenges and solve them
The retail market has achieved a whopping size of US$ 26 trillion in 2021. It is expected to cross US$ 30 trillion by 2024. The major players in this industry are continuously striving to be in the top game and also to be the most popular choice for customers. These days, customers decide which brand to approach for retail requirements. Based on their experience, a brand image of a business is established.
The prime hurdle of a retail brand is to maintain the same standard of service across all the business points. It requires constant evaluation of customer experience in different cultures and locations. This is where retail brands hire a mystery shopping service provider. This service provider designs a retail mystery shopping program to measure customer experience and find hidden issues. Let us check how this program works.
How does mystery shopping work for retail brands?
The hired service provider will handpick experienced professionals who can pretend like real customers and are proficient enough to gather data within a short period. These mystery shoppers are provided with a questionnaire that touches on predetermined factors related to customer experience. These factors are:
- Parking
- Check-in feature
- Customer assistance
- Staff knowledge and behaviour
- Showcasing products
- Degree of ease to find products
- Billing service
- Customer loyalty programs
- Employee benefit programs
- Discounts, offers, etc
There are other factors that the hirer will decide whether to include or not. Based on the experience of a mystery shopper, the added points will be touched on in a questionnaire. The input provided by the shoppers will then be analyzed by using an analytics tool during a mystery shopping audit. Reports generated will have actionable insights that the hirer will need to make its retail customer experience better. This is how mystery shopping works.
How customer experience in retail is enhanced?
After doing elaborate mystery shopping research by using the data-driven reports, a new strategy will be designed by the customer experience management (CEM) team. The team will identify the blind spots of customer services and will omit them by preparing new SOPs and protocols.
The staff will be trained based on the new SOPs and protocols to eradicate those blind spots and remove inconveniences that customers experienced. Mystery shopping allows focusing on these five factors.
- In-store environment appeal
- Dedication and knowledge of employees
- Knowledge of customers visiting offline stores
- Consistency in customer experience
- Captivating customer service to increase brand loyalty
Mystery shopping assists in mapping the journey of a customer in a retail shop. It is then the pain points and blind spots of customer service can be detected. The service provider will also deliver actionable insights extracted from the data-backed reports of the mystery shopping program. It will aid the retail brand to work on its customer service and elevate the customer experience. This is how a brand image is made stronger by generating more customer satisfaction. This is how a retail brand survives and makes a profit for a longer period.