Mystery Shopper Magazine

What makes a great shopping assignment? What excites most shoppers when they see a plum assignment on the boards? Airport Shops? Casino Shops? What gets the shoppers blood pumping? Here are 10 mystery shopping assignments that shoppers love. Do you agree or disagree with this list? How many of these assignments have you completed? Read on to find out!

1. Bar Integrity Shops: Here is where your real shopper skills come into play! You are posing as a customer at the bar and your job is to observe the bartender for honesty. Otherwise known as “integrity shops” ….You want to find out if the bartender is being honest with the money and with the booze. Is he over-pouring? Is he properly using a jigger? Is his bar-top clean? Is he feeding more booze into an obviously intoxicated patron? Is he pouring heavy shots for a solo attractive women sitting at the bar? Is your bartender in a furious texting war on his phone, while ignoring his customers? Is he stepping outside for too many smoke-breaks? Is he short-pouring? Is he using his bare hands to scoop ice? How about a real glass-glass to scoop ice? Is he switching receipts and pocketing the money? Does he have a skimmer device for credit cards? The list goes on and on. It is your job to find out what he is doing and any new tricks you observe. But remember, there are good bartenders out there too. Learn more about bar integrity shops.
2. Travel Agent Shops: Convincing the travel agent that you can afford an $18,000 trip for 3 weeks to Thailand, is a true feat for some! It involves oftentimes getting on the phone, involving a live-recorded call to the travel agency. The best part of this shop is just imagining that you can afford the trip and explore all the travel adventure destinations of your trip from A to Z with your travel agent. A lesson for the future for all your travel endeavors.
3. Alcohol/Cigarette Compliance Shops: Awhh…. if I were only 21 years old again! For these shops, they want you to be 18-25 years old and be able to pass for someone who still gets ID/carded. They want you to walk into a drug store or big box store and try to purchase alcohol or a pack of cigarettes. They do NOT want you to bring ID with you. They want to see if you get carded or asked for ID. In some cases, if you do not get carded, they ask you to complete the purchase and then reimburse you. The best thing about this shop is the fee! They often pay $25 to $35 to walk in and buy a pack of cigarettes! (plus the expense of the cigarettes or alcohol). Just imagine going to 5 stores in one day! Pretty impressive fees. But you have to be young, or young-looking to do these shops. It is my understanding that the fines are very HEAVY for the store who sells you liquor or cigarettes and you are underage/ and not ask you for ID. It is in the client’s best interest to perform these shops, to weed out the employees who refuse to ask for ID. Learn more about compliance shops.
4. USPS Shops: These postal shops seem to be very popular with shoppers! It involves a certain type of box, at a certain weight, with a certain dimension, that you mail to a certain zone. Shoppers report mailing all kinds of things to family and friends. Shoppers do love this one and apparently the fees! It also involves the postal employee, required to ask certain questions about what you are mailing. All in all, a favorite shop for many shoppers. Learn More About Postal Service Shops.
5. Gas Station Shops/Audits: The gas station mystery shops and audits seem to be a favorite with many shoppers. The shop involves getting 2 gallons of gas at the pump, making sure your receipt prints out on the reader, make sure the air pump is working and taking pictures of the Main ID Sign and the Overall Gas Station/Canopy pictures. After purchasing your gas, you go inside and visit the restroom, observe the store for cleanliness, look at the food station/drink station for handwritten signs/dirt, and lastly, when you go to the front check out, you look for offensive materials, such as nude magazines, rolling papers, bong pipes, assault weapons, propaganda posters, drug parphenillia and any other items you deem offensive. You must get the clerk’s name and full description as well. The audits are a little different, as you may have part mystery shop/part audit where you reveal yourself. Or you may have a full-on audit where you reveal yourself in the beginning with an LOA (Letter of Authorization). Learn more about gas station audits.
6. Wings Shops: You just name the place and shoppers just love their wings! There is a particular wing shop that is a true favorite and well known for their lemon-pepper wings. There is another shop that is well known for their fast-break lunch shops and game plays, not to mention the most TV’s I’ve ever seen! In all cases, timing is everything. The one wing shop wants you time to the second when you were greeted, seated, approached, received your drink, your food, your lunch-check and dessert. The wings are worth all of it! It’s a fun shop, after you get the timings and observations, it’s time to enjoy lunch or dinner. (both are great shops) They even have take-out shops. That should be interesting! Learn more about restaurant shops.
7. Movie Shops Not to be confused with the All-day patron count and Preview-counts. This is a the real deal. The shoppers simply LOVE going to the movies! There are two major players (MSC’s) and one requires much more than the other. The second MSC requires you to note all the reviews and their names of upcoming movies. They require a box office picture (weekends normally) and the name AND interaction with the manager, as well as the associates. Both require the names of your box office associate, ticket taker, concessionist, and usher. The best part of the movie is “usually” when you have done all your observations, that you CAN enjoy the movie. Afterwards, you just check the restroom one more time. These MSC’s pay for your drink and popcorn and your movie ticket. They don’t pay much for your fee though, normally $5-$10 for your evaluation. But still shoppers, I ask: So, where else can you get a movie, popcorn and drink for full reimbursement? …A Good deal all around! Learn more about movie shops.
8. High End Dining Shops: This is one of shoppers favorites! Enjoying a fabulous dinner and getting paid for it. Not to mention a generous fee, normally as high as $30 or higher, depending on the complexity and observations at the dinner shop. Good food! Excellent experience! But there are timely observations and there are usually many observations..Most shoppers feel they would not normally spend $150 on dinner and this might as well be the place that pays them back, for their dinner and their hard work! There are sometimes income criteria for this shop and some ask for certain educational achievements before being allowed to conduct this shop. But well worth it to many! Learn more about high end dining shops.
9. Grocery Shops: For many shoppers, incorporating grocery shops into their weekly budget makes sense. They can get an on-going stockpile of items going.. if they grocery shop on a regular basis. To know your groceries are going to be reimbursed (even partially-depending on how much you spend) is a big plus for shoppers. It usually involves visiting many departments (average is 6) with a set of questions (required for one company) and another MSC, you can make up your own questions. The interaction with the associates is what they are looking for. One MSC requires special requests, such as steaming shrimp or cutting a whole chicken into sections. It just depends on which MSC you shop for at the time. The fee is usually $6-$10. You won’t get rich doing the grocery shops but you will have plenty of groceries! Learn more about grocery shops.
10. Jewelry Shops: Shoppers who love and enjoy jewelry… really LOVE jewelry shops! It usually involves pretending you are getting engaged and wonder about platinum rings, diamonds or perhaps you come in as a couple and ask about recommendations for your upcoming wedding? It can involve an interesting bracelet or a myriad of other scenarios, which are unique for each MSC. Many brand new shoppers (newbies) do jewelry stores and in most cases, there is no cash out-lay, unless your shop requires a jewelry purchase. This is a great first time shop and usually pretty easy. The pay can range from $15-25 or higher depending on the shop. Learn more about jewelry shops.