Companies that shop furniture stores: Some of the mystery shopping companies that do furniture shops: Bare, Customer Impact, Reality Based Group, Shoppers View and Service Check.
The Pay: For those interested in furniture shops, the pay always seems to have a bonus attached. The base pay is usually $10 with a $5 to $10 bonus. I am sure for the rural/out of the way furniture stores, you can make even more.
What others have to say: I think there are good overall comments on the furniture shops. There are some who do not enjoy them and some who actively seek them out. If the pay is right, at least $15, I will do one for most of my companies.
Personal Experience: When I was a brand new mystery shopper my second mystery shop was a furniture store. This shop had a lot of observations, with pages and pages of paperwork to fill out. The only other shop I had performed was a printer/computer shop, where you ask about a printer and a computer and make a $1 small purchase.
This furniture shop was going to pay $15 and I wanted to do a great job.
For the first part of the assignment, you must call the store. You want to see if the associate uses their name, the store title and a warm greeting in their initial pick-up of the call. The second part of the shop, you needed to go inside the furniture store and perform the shop.
I was scared someone would recognize my voice so I practice changing my voice to something different. It wasn’t enough for me to change the inflection, I grabbed my throat and noticed how feeble I sounded when I pressed on my voice box. After much practice I had the “voice down.” Now, what to say? I practiced an extreme Southern drawl and it went something like this: “I am looked for a cheeeerry wooooood table.” When I had it down to the best Southern drawl I could muster, I made my call.
The call was supposed to go to the front of the store sales showroom, but somehow it went to the back (warehouse) and that person had to transfer me back to a sales associate (feeling nervous..) Finally, a salesperson answered: He did not use his name in the introduction. I had to figure out how to ask for it …but first, my request: “Yes. I am lookin’ for a cheeeery woooood table.” The salesperson did not understand me! I had to repeat it slower and I guess they thought I was 90-plus years old, because of how creaky my voice sounded. I got through the call, got the salesman’s name (Joe) and headed over to the furniture store.
When I walked in, I had to count how long it took to be greeted. The salesman approached, introducing himself. ‘Oh no!” It’s him. It’s Joe!” I made myself sound so different than the voice on the phone. Even though, he said, “Did you call us?” I lied (my first mystery shopping lie) and I said with a wave of disinterest, “No” and slowly looked away….. (I think it may have been standard to ask the customer if they had called the store but I took it like he “recognized my voice”).
He was supposed to build rapport with me, warm up to me and then take me over to the scenario furniture item. He asked how I was doing and about the weather. After a little more small talk, he took me over to the dining room tables. I realized this was going quick, he showed me what he had… so the instructions say to let him show you other pieces of furniture. I did just that. It started becoming a fun shop! I got to look at all my dream furniture and the more he showed me, the more enthusiastic I/and he became. At one point, I was required to visit the restroom.
The restroom was gorgeous, with marble floors, foyer tables and a large triple sink with shelving and drawers below. My instructions for restroom said to check the drawers(?) I did not know why but I checked them! I opened them and did not see anything inside…I went back out into the showroom and Joe was right there waiting for me. The report stressed, if at “any time” did the salesman abandon you or lose interest? Joe never did. At the end of the shop, he was supposed to ask me about a Sweepstakes and he did. Joe performed a perfect shop (I thought).
When I was filling out my report, I got an inquiry (I was scared) What could they be asking of me? They asked me about the “drawer question.” They meant the drawers in the dressers out in the showroom, that needed to be checked, not the drawers in the restroom. Well, thank Heavens, I had opened almost every drawer out in the showroom! I was like a curious cat that day and I left no stone unturned. They were satisfied that I did indeed check all the drawers out in the showroom. The reason they said check the drawers is because the client wanted to make sure they had no trash or dust in them.
When time came a few days later, I was given a 9! That’s okay. I would try for a “10” next time. This was also my first shop with them. I think they were treating me pretty good for a newbie. I enjoyed the shop and highly recommend new shoppers give them a try, to get your feet wet.
Interesting fact: Sometimes you see a shop that says “Furniture Shop” but it is in-fact a segmented shop, like for Tempur Pedic Beds. It is a more focused shop on a specific furniture item, as opposed to a store full of furniture eg. “Ethan Allen.” And the pay seems to be higher.
Seems a challenge that one can handle