I would appreciate if someone could tell me the name of this job description? I would like to know what do you call a person who goes into a store undercover, and looks like a shopper, but is actually checking up on the staff. They check how an employee is working, i.e. are they polite to customers, are they doing their job properly. It is NOT to check on shop lifters, but on the employees who do not ever know that they are being watched and assessed! Help? Thank you very much.:confused:

A snitch, or a mole depending on whose side your on

When I did it I was called a mystery shopper.
I would go in as if I was a regular customer, then evaluate how the employee followed general rules.
If they where polite and followed the store policies they received a bonus in their pay.
If not I would explain what was expected in the future.
If handled correctly this is a very effective training tool.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ken 297

When I did it I was called a mystery shopper.
I would go in as if I was a regular customer, then evaluate how the employee followed general rules.
If they where polite and followed the store policies they received a bonus in their pay.
If not I would explain what was expected in the future.
If handled correctly this is a very effective training tool.

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Thank you for your reply! I live in Quebec, Canada. I would appreciate if you could tell me how you got this job, i.e. was there an ad in the newspaper? How would you do the evaluation - would the owner of the store give you a plan to follow, and would you need to do a write up at the end of each day? Was there an outline, given to you on paper, that you would then need to complete at the end of the day in writing, sort of an assessment on each employee? How did you get paid by the hour, by the day? Is the a regular type of job at the same store and for how often? Did you do this 5 days a week, 9:00-5:00 at the same store?
When you say: "If not I would explain what was expected in the future."- How is that?
Did you actually have contact with the employee after "the stint" - I thought that one would report the results to the owner and then the owner would deal with the results... did you ever return over to the same store? For how long did you do this? Was it difficult?
Thanks!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ken 297

When I did it I was called a mystery shopper.
I would go in as if I was a regular customer, then evaluate how the employee followed general rules.
If they where polite and followed the store policies they received a bonus in their pay.
If not I would explain what was expected in the future.
If handled correctly this is a very effective training tool.

---

Thank you for your reply! I live in Quebec, Canada. I would appreciate if you could tell me how you got this job, i.e. was there an ad in the newspaper? How would you do the evaluation - would the owner of the store give you a plan to follow, and would you need to do a write up at the end of each day? Was there an outline, given to you on paper, that you would then need to complete at the end of the day in writing, sort of an assessment on each employee? How did you get paid by the hour, by the day? Is the a regular type of job at the same store and for how often? Did you do this 5 days a week, 9:00-5:00 at the same store?
When you say: "If not I would explain what was expected in the future."- How is that?
Did you actually have contact with the employee after "the stint" - I thought that one would report the results to the owner and then the owner would deal with the results... did you ever return over to the same store? For how long did you do this? Was it difficult?
Thanks!

Normally even the store owners do not know who you are. The store or coporation hires a "shopper" company to do all the evals. They will design specific paperwork and what is to be looked for. Many stores do this and there are several major shopper companies that are used.

They will train you if you are picked to do this

You merely go in and shop, look at displays, look for certain items, see if they are stocked property, buy something normally and then come back latter and return it ( checking on return policy)

And no one in the store you go into will ever know you were a secret shopper. So it never hurts to go back personally to shop

I knew the owner of the store, It was a franchise and he would ask for my help occasionally.
I would never get paid for it but would get meals for free.
Didn't mean to imply that I did it for a living.
After each visit I would contact the employee and discuss the visit.
He only had about 40 employees so I couldn't go to any store more than a couple of times.