Who’s Hiring Mystery Shoppers?
So you’ve decided you want to learn more about becoming a secret shopper. Where do you start? One good way is to examine the different companies looking for secret shoppers. Behind the many market research businesses and mystery shopping outfitters there are a lot of companies looking for secret shoppers, all of which represent viable ways to become employed. But before we go over the different companies and ways to apply, it is important to first know what companies are looking for in their potential mystery shoppers.
Companies looking for secret shoppers are looking for a wide variety of demographics. Therefore people of all ages, sexes, education levels and geographic locations can make a good secret shopper. In fact, often times market research companies looking for secret shoppers require a certain demographic of shopper to conduct a ‘shop’ in order to help them evaluate how that specific demographic is treated or experiences the services of a particular company. Most of the time however, secret shoppers are sent on assignments that aren’t demographic specific. Usually a mystery shopping assignment simply involves having a special skill set as a secret shopper in order to be successful.
Although there are many different kinds of people who can be mystery shoppers, all good secret shoppers usually have the same characteristics in common. Good mystery shoppers know how to be objective. This means being able to look past personal prejudice and give an impartial, honest review of the store that you shopped. Companies looking for secret shoppers need an honest review of the store or service that you are evaluating. This is critical for their decision making involving changes based on mystery shopping data and as a result, means that all shoppers need to conduct themselves professionally. All good mystery shoppers are also detail oriented, can follow instructions well, take pride in their work, take good notes and return their shops and evaluations on time. Being able to embody these characteristics means you too can be a successful secret shopper!
So where do you find work as a secret shopper? Aside from our secret shopper job board that has full lists of mystery shopping job providers and specific job listings, a good place to find companies looking for secret shoppers is by aligning yourself with mystery shopping providers.
Mystery shopping providers are companies that specifically qualify, train and contract secret shoppers to companies that are looking for mystery shopping as a market research tool. By doing this with several different mystery shopping providers you increase your chances of fulfilling the number of hours you want to work each week and gain more valuable experience as a mystery shopper. In later sections we discuss the different types of mystery shopping providers that secret shoppers most commonly use. You will learn about Maritz, a leader in the market research and mystery shopping industry. You will also learn about the MSPA, or Mystery Shopping Providers Association, in addition to many more legitimate secret shopping employers.
Companies such as these are an excellent way to increase your success as an independent secret shopper and represent some of the best ways to find employment as a mystery shopper.